2 September 2021 - In June 2021, the DSM-Novozymes Feed Enzymes Alliance launched ProAct 360™, what the alliance describes as a “second-generation protease” – a “novel and robust product tailored to the needs of today’s feed industry,” claiming that it sets a new market standard for poultry when it comes to feed efficiency, affordability, and sustainability.
As its name suggests, the product is seen to reflect a 360° understanding of the needs of poultry producers, enabling them to be more flexible in their selection and use of raw materials, as well as enhance the digestibility of protein by the birds. The product is accompanied by digital services, built on years of data points, to improve feed material assessment and help customers make better decision on their feed formulations.
The launch comes 13 years after DSM and Novozymes introduced the first-generation version (RONOZYME® ProAct) to the market. Today, the Alliance argues that the need for protease-based solutions is greater than ever, with animal protein producers facing a volatile market characterised by high protein meal prices and a slow recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We spoke to Christie Chavis (Vice President Animal Health & Nutrition Specialty Solutions at DSM) and Robert Vergo (Global Feed Alliance Director at Novozymes) about the launch of ProAct 360™, its roll-out, and gained some insight into the evolution of protease technology.
[Feedinfo] What makes your second-generation protease stand out from other protease products available in the market?
[Christie Chavis] Many producers still have the idea that we should only use a protease when we have a quality problem in raw materials, which is not true. The need for protease-based feed solutions is greater than ever today, in a volatile market facing high input prices. Protease addresses the customer pain point (high input prices) by enhancing digestibility of protein and releasing more amino acids from the feed, thereby improving feed efficiency. The developed improvements of the second generation protease are: more consistent (and better) FCR improvement, higher amino acid digestibility improvement for all amino acids, better at degrading Anti-Nutritional Factors (ANF) like Trypsin inhibitor, and faster protein hydrolysis, therefore faster action.
Adding ProAct 360™ delivers the following key benefits: consistent improvement of amino acid digestibility and thus, growth performance; flexible feed formulation for substantial cost savings; more sustainable production via efficient use of natural resources (lower soy utilisation and more alternative raw materials), reduction of livestock emissions (low Nitrogen emissions by enabling lower Crude Protein diets), and lifetime performance and animal welfare (for example, significantly reducing foot-pad lesions in broilers). ProAct 360™ supports directly three of the six key sustainability platforms from DSM “We Make It Possible” initiative for sustainable animal production.
[Feedinfo] You argue that it is a “new market standard” and a breakthrough in sustainability-driven innovation, but how do you measure that?
[Christie Chavis] At DSM, we consider the accurate and objective way of measuring it is by calculating the environmental footprint of the customer using the LCA methodology prior and after the use of ProAct 360™ taking in consideration all the effects associated with the product in changing the feed formulation, in reducing Nitrogen emissions and generally environmental footprint, as well as in providing efficiency and/or productivity gains.
Within the “We Make it Possible” initiative, we developed a science-based tool for animal protein producers and processors to assess and reduce their environmental footprint and costs of farming with smart science and innovative solutions. This tool called Sustell™ measures the farm-level environmental impact of the main animal production systems based on robust calculations and analysis, and provides environmental and animal nutrition expert guidance and solutions for improvements.
[Feedinfo] When announcing the launch in June, the Alliance said the product’s value proposition goes beyond the product itself. What do you mean by that?
[Christie Chavis] It is the only feed protease on the market, which was specifically developed for use in animal feed. No other protease has such a strong scientific database of published data and internal data. Beyond its technical superiority, ProAct 360™ brings more added value around protease technology to its customers and offers them with an enhanced product experience through a “one-stop-shop” digital platform, which provides services such as specific NiR analysis (through calibration sharing), a product calculator/simulator regarding positive contribution in terms of both matrix values and sustainability KPIs; and feed analysis service to quantify enzyme recovery after pelleting.
[Feedinfo] The DSM-Novozymes Feed Enzymes Alliance launched RONOZYME® ProAct in 2008, which you described at the time as “the first mono-component protease” used on all monogastric species outside of EU27 states. What were the main lessons learned and that you were able to benefit from for the 2021 launch of the second-generation product?
[Christie Chavis] We were the first to introduce a mono-component protease concept optimised by design for feed, thereby creating and developing a market which did not really exist before. Establishing a new feed enzyme class in the market is no easy task as it was not readily and widely accepted by nutritionist and other key industry stakeholders, unlike established enzymes like phytase or NSP enzymes. With ongoing research and developing know-how around protease, we gained industry trust and customer acceptance over this long period of time of a new technology for protein digestibility. We can come with our own data and evidence but it takes close collaboration with industry experts and customers to solidify protease technology as a standard tool for animal producers to rely on.
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So, we learned that collaboration is key, but the end-goal is for animal producers around the world to recognise and accept proteases as part of their everyday toolbox. To reach that, the Alliance spent years understanding how customers used RONOZYME® ProAct, what their pain points were and how we can answer those issues. We learned that in addition to the product, we needed to invest in strong analytical tools and innovative commercial models as well. Once we established the protease space, it took further efforts to educate the market on this new concept but also learning from our customers. For example, at the beginning, collected customer data showed simplistic flat improvement of amino acids (e.g. 5%). Now, due to close cooperation and data collection with customers, data analysis shows more sophisticated digestibility improvement such as degredation of trypsin inhibitors, reducing variability of protein in feed, individual birds’ variability in a flock, or even reducing foot pad lesions. As a result, we have seen a shift in customer attitude and over the last years, protease has became standard in commercial diets. |
Robert Vergo |
Christie Chavis
[Feedinfo] 13 years between two launches seems like a long time. Why didn’t the second-generation protease come sooner?
[Robert Vergo] In our view, innovation isn’t only about speed, but the ability to deliver unique solutions that meet our customer’s need. For a highly penetrated market like phytases, customers have defined the basic needs of the market. Protease on the otherhand, was launched in a very limited landscape and parameters for evaluating the ROI were not well established. The first generation product established those parameters, giving customers the knowlegde to understand and critically assess the benefits of protease technology. As we learned more about the gaps and pain points, we worked extensively to screen for the molecules that answered those pain points.
[Robert Vergo] At one point in the innovation stage, we conducted numerous in vitro testing to narrow down from an initial screening of millions of potential molecules to 500 initial “candidates” and subsequently to “just” the top 50. To ensure that we were testing for the right parameters and animal conditions, we tested all those 50 candidates thoroughly in in vivo trials. It was the most robust, stringent and extensive screening and evaluation process ever in the history of the Alliance. We took the necessary time to ensure ProAct 360™ delivered exactly what the market needed. This is the reason why ProAct 360™ has taken a significant effort to develop and launch and likely why no other company has launched yet a second generation protease.
[Feedinfo] The product will initially be launched in the markets of Latin America, with a roll-out to the other regions of the world to follow in the medium term. Why choose Latin America as a starting point?
[Robert Vergo] Like with RONOZYME® ProAct, the starting point will be LATAM and all other global regions will follow. With this approach, we are building on the success from the initial launch in 2008 and making best use of a solid, well established customer base of RONOZYME® ProAct and mature market protease concept in this region. LATAM was chosen for several strategic reasons. Firstly, it has a more consolidated poultry industry with an established market for protease technology. Secondly, it consumes large amounts of protein meals, soybean in particular and it needs the ability to reduce protein meal consumption in its animal diets. The quality of protein meals are more challenging with high variation in protein content and digestibility. These are both opportunities and pressures for reducing production costs.
Next regions for roll-out are North America, Asia and EMEA.
[Feedinfo] Protease technology has had success with poultry farmers over the years and the DSM-Novozymes Feed Enzymes Alliance sees immediate benefits for those who will be using the new product. However, you do flag the issue that protease technology needs to be made more “broadly available”. What are the limiting factors here, and what can be done?
[Robert Vergo] RONOZYME® ProAct, though beneficial for customers, was considered an expensive additive. Volumes played a big role in determining whether the ROI was sufficient for customers to invest in making the product work in their diets. For example, the treatment cost €/tonne of feed was several times the one of other well established enzymes such as phytase, making such investment decision more difficult for some customers. The volatile commodity trend also made it challenging for customers to focus on understanding and adapting the product to their needs. ProAct 360™’s lower inclusion rate and more consistent/robust performance and enhanced value proposition gives our customers a greater flexibility and assurance/confidence when using protease technology. We also observed that acceptance of protease by customers has grown over years as markets and industries are more mature.
Additionally, diet formulations need to be fine-tuned to deliver the best cost-benefit relation. This adjustment depends on the characteristics of the customers’ specific raw materials. To get the best ROI for protease technology, you cannot just add it “on top” of your current diet formulation. Our new digital services include tools to support our customers to find the sweet spot for their production programs.
[Feedinfo] Is market penetration for protease more challenging for the pig sector? What is your experience?
[Christie Chavis] Across the board, feed enzyme penetration in swine is lower compared to poultry. This is due to the different nature of the market, there’s a higher rate of consolidation in the poultry industry and the time it takes to get a bird to market is 3x faster compared to swine. Thus, the poultry industry can experiment and adapt to new technologies much faster compared to the swine industry. However, both swine and poultry producers face the same challenge; how to get more out of their protein meals. Developing a protease that can improve the amino acid digestibility of key protein materials such as soybean meal is crucial for both species. Our robust screening method and formulation development was able to identify the molecule that performs in both poultry and swine.
[Robert Vergo] In LATAM we have always supported our swine customers with RONOZYME® ProAct through our Complete Swine Solution Package and with the approval of ProAct 360™ for swine, we are looking forward to helping our customers get the most value out of their protein meals.
[Feedinfo] As ProAct 360 is being rolled out, do you intend to phase customers away from RONOZYME® ProAct? What will become of this product?
[Christie Chavis] RONOZYME® ProAct is proven, registered, widely available and applied in many markets and thus will continue to be part of our portfolio of innovative solutions designed to meet the needs of an ever-changing animal nutrition sector. At the same time, we are confident and convinced by the early demand for ProAct 360™ that the new technology and service package will offer additional value to poultry and swine producers around the world. We anticipate the customer demand to rapidly transition to this second-generation product, pending regulatory approval in the respective countries. We will work closely with our customers on this transition.
[Robert Vergo] The ambition is to provide all our customers with the best product in the protease technology space. We have invested both in innovation and production capabilities so we can provide ProAct 360™ to all poultry and swine producers around the world. RONOZYME® ProAct is also expected to stay on the market for other species uses like aqua.
Published in association with DSM-Novozymes
