Launch of LALPROBIOME Creates Unified Platform for Pet Nutritional and Well-Being Solutions – INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES

Pet nutrition occupies a special place within the wider animal nutrition world. Companion animals have longer lives, and more intricate health and well-being needs, than production animals. And as our understanding of microbiomes evolve, it is increasingly clear that nutritional solutions can play a role in meeting a wide variety of pet parents’ expectations around everything from the behaviour of dogs to the reproductive success of horses.

To help support the customers and manufacturers of pet food, treats, and supplements in finding custom solutions to the different challenges facing companion animals, Lallemand Animal Nutrition rolled out LALPROBIOME, a unified platform for its wide array of pet products, earlier this year. Today, we are joined by Francesca Susca, Global Pet Product & Business Development Manager, Marie-Valentine Glica, Global Strategic Marketing Manager for Equine and Ruminant Feed Additives, and Amélie Mugnier, Research Scientist, to better understand how this step fits in with Lallemand’s years-long engagement with the pet market, and how pioneering work on the brain-gut axis is providing nutritional solutions to a broader range of issues than ever before.

[Feedinfo] What is Lalprobiome? What products is Lallemand offering under the Lalprobiome umbrella, and what challenges are these aimed at addressing?

[Feedinfo] Lalprobiome as an umbrella brand was rolled out in May, I believe, but Lallemand’s work on companion animal issues goes back much further than that. Can you give a little history of Lallemand’s engagement with pet nutrition?  

[Francesca Susca] You are totally right, it has been over 7 years since Lallemand Animal Nutrition established a foothold in the petfood industry. From the very beginning, we carefully selected the most relevant strains and solutions to build a portfolio that meets the main daily challenges of our beloved pets, leveraging both our animal and human nutrition expertise. We have been evolving since then, developing dedicated dog and cat research programs internally as well as in collaboration with external universities, key opinion leaders, and research centers. Actively participating in all kinds of international pet events and conferences not only increased the awareness of Lallemand as a supplier in the petfood space, but is also seen as something of a social responsibility, allowing us to share our state-of-the-art knowledge to inform and educate the market in order to bring real benefits to pets’ health and well-being.

Year after year, we have grown, and so have our team and petfood expertise. Today, the expanded Lallemand pet team provides commercial and technical support for the pet nutrition sector globally, as we have reinforced our presence in the US, Canada, and especially Europe.  For example, I am very glad to share that our R&D team has recently welcomed Amélie Mugnier, PhD, a pet expert dedicated to the study of cats and dogs; I am confident that she will help bridge the gap in companion animal microbiota science.

[Feedinfo] How is the launch of the Lalprobiome platform expected to benefit pet and equine customers, and how will it help Lallemand meet its own objectives in this area?

[Francesca Susca] Moving from a transversal portfolio under Lallemand Animal Nutrition to Lalprobiome, we have created a specific platform that allows us to be more focused in responding to the trends and needs of the petfood market, and demonstrates our commitment to leveraging the natural power of yeast and bacteria.  We view customers’ success as our responsibility. With top-tier quality management systems and unparalleled flexibility, Lalprobiome offers the opportunity to develop customized, highly specific functional blends to ensure the optimal application and efficacy of our solutions.

At Lallemand we don’t only sell products but we are also committed to supporting their application with a range of customized services. For instance, to support the application and efficacy of our solutions in petfood production processes, we offer technical support. We also strive to offer education and share knowledge; for instance, we have developed the PetWAG (pet well-being assessment guide), a four-step guide enabling to measure and track dogs’ and cats’ emotional well-being. PetWAG provides our customers and prospects with a unique concept that supports them in standing out in the market.

Altogether, with Lalprobiome’s dedicated resources, high expertise, and strong branding, we are determined to be the best partner possible, enabling our customers to be successful. We offer them solutions and services which can help differentiation and premiumization in the petfood market and companion animals to lead longer, happier and healthier lives.

With Lalprobiome we are reinforcing this support thanks to a dedicated team of experts in horse nutrition and marketing. The objective is to offer these solutions and services and bring specific claims adapted to the pet and equine markets, to follow the trends and bring cutting-edge solutions to help differentiation for our partners.

[Feedinfo] Indeed, I understand the equine space is a particular focus area for Lalprobiome. Can you give any examples of how Lallemand’s work is helping bring solutions to some of the challenges faced by this species?

[Marie-Valentine Glica] With Lalprobiome we target specific challenges for horses, such as joint and muscle integrity. This area of expertise is really unique to equine nutrition, as horses are not only companion animals but also athletes. This is why we have developed a strong knowledge about muscle and joint integrity and work with experts to develop dedicated trial models to test the products’ benefits and showcase the mode of action and expected benefits for trainers or horse owners. For example, in the context of MELOFEED, a natural source of superoxide dismutase, this kind of model shows improvement in muscle integrity after intense training activities under challenging conditions like running in the mud.

Another example is the breeding area where we work hand by hand with our partners to develop a specific mix of solutions with different inclusion levels to reach an ideal balance between benefits for the dam and the foal and economic balance for the breeder. This kind of mix might contain LEVUCELL SC live yeast, unique probiotics developed to help get the most out of forage-based diets, alongside an antioxidant such as ALKOSEL, which serves as a source of highly available organic selenium for an optimal transfer to the foal. The synergistic effect helps produce high quality colostrum to support the foal in its earliest days,in addition to the body condition of the mare. We orientate our work to answer the challenges and propose the optimal mix of products, as well as applying our expertise in equine nutrition management to support breeders beyond the feed itself and provide best practices in feeding management.

There are additional challenges to address depending on the type of horse: sport, leisure, racing, show. We’re equipped with a broad knowledge base, with experts coming from Europe and America, allowing us to take into account the different needs of each segment of the market.

[Feedinfo] Lallemand Animal Nutrition is known to invest heavily in R&D. Can you describe how this is being applied to bring better solutions to the pet industry?

It's also important to point out that research on a given product never really stops, as we're always looking to further our understanding of the mechanisms involved and to identify and demonstrate new beneficial effects. This part can be fed by exchanges with customers and pet parents, because feedback from the field is essential. So there is a lot of research work, at different levels, behind each product for Lalprobiome portfolio.

Feed & food technologies are key for success when we consider probiotic and feed additive concepts. Another area where our R&D team brings value for the petfood and feed industry is the process development and formulation technologies. Indeed, especially when considering feed additives and live probiotics, there are many processes with high level of specificity, from powder stick supplements to post extrusion application. Our team has also welcomed new technology and formulation specialist Carlos Verguera, an expert in the constraints of the petfood and pet supplements production processes, to help support our customers to formulate with Lalprobiome solutions.

[Feedinfo] What’s next for Lallemand in the pet and equine business? What issues or technologies are you focusing your attention on in the pet space? What should the industry expect from you going forward?

[Francesca Susca] For sure we will continue leveraging the natural power of yeast and bacteria to keep offering the most innovative “biotic” solutions for the health and well-being of beloved pets. I would also add that particular attention will be paid to one of the most recent trends in the pet industry: postbiotics. Lalprobiome offers a wide range of postbiotic yeast and bacteria-based solutions developed from specifically selected microbial strains. From microbial strain selection to characterization, to proof of concept to in vitro and in vivo studies on target species, we will make sure to offer our customers complete support in choosing the right postbiotic solution for the right application.

It is no secret that one of our main areas of expertise is the digestive microbiota. Digestive health plays a central role in ensuring the overall health and well-being of companion animals as highlighted by the famous sentence of Hippocrates “all disease begins in the gut”. The gut microbiota, present throughout the digestive tract and composed of billions of microorganisms, is crucial for the global functioning of the digestive system. In addition to our pre- and post-biotic solutions, LALPROBIOME will offer a wide range of selected yeast and bacteria probiotic solutions. Amongst them LALPROBIOME S.c. boulardii CNCM-1079, our well-known probiotic yeast, will continue to play a pivotal role, thanks to its widely recognized and scientifically supported beneficial properties for dog and cat health.

Moreover, the idea that the gut influences the brain, and therefore also behaviour, is widely understood and accepted. The complex communication along the brain-gut axis not only ensures the proper maintenance of gastrointestinal homeostasis, but is likely to have multiple effects on motivation and higher cognitive functions. Its role is not just to monitor and integrate the gut function but also to link the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain to the internal functions and mechanisms of digestion.

At Lallemand, we are a pioneer in the field of addressing the gut-brain axis (GBA) through microbiota modulation in humans, with our clinically documented solution CEREBIOME – the first and only probiotic with authority-approved health claims on the GBA. We do have an extensive knowledge and expertise in this field that we are trying to apply to companion animals because we truly believe it will be able to support their mental and physical health and well-being.

[Marie-Valentine Glica] There is already some proof of changed behaviour in horses depending on specific diets; we know that high starch diets will contribute to more sensitive horses that will be less curious and frighten more easily. These behaviours do not favour learning and confidence, key elements that trainers and horse owner are looking for in leisure or performance. Understanding and supporting the gut-brain axis can bring innovative solutions through feed to improve general well-being and encourage positive behaviour.

Published in association with Lallemand Animal Nutrition