making them more bio-available.” Biochem’s copper glycinate provides an inclusion level of 5 ppm of the mineral in fattening pig feeds for example, a level their trials have shown makes sense from the nutritional point of view; some competitors have historically advocated much higher inclusion levels as an alternative to growth promoters like zinc oxide but, says Alexander “in my opinion, there are better strategies for achieving growth promotion and microbial management of the gut than by increasing mineral levels.” The company always tries to be as technical as possible, using


scientific research, feeding trials, co-operation with universities and other institutes, in order to understand active ingredients at the molecular level and how this translates into an effect within the animal. “It means customers can trust and rely upon our products,” says Alexander. The company has its own trial facilities network including close to the manufacturing site, allowing studies to be carried out by the company’s own scientists. They also work in conjunction with students and staff from universities such as Osnabrück, Bonn, Wageningen and Berlin as well as other institutes across the globe, giving access to outside expertise and ideas. In addition, practical trials are undertaken on partner farms to understand how additives perform in real-world conditions. Exchange of experience and information is also encouraged between colleagues in different countries both within and between regions, to facilitate the flow of ideas and best practice. To help achieve this, colleagues are organised into regional teams, such as the North Europe team, the South Eastern Europe team, the Asia-Pacific team and so on. “We are not selling commodities,” says Alexander. “These are


technical products and we need to be able to explain our additives and explain their application.” Of the 250 employees, around half have some kind of specific expertise, including veterinarians, agricultural engineers and nutritionists. On a daily basis, product managers and salespeople are in contact with clients from the largest feed producers through to small farms, interacting with them in the appropriate way according to the type of customer, to assist their understanding of the company’s range of additives. “Across several product groups, we are a full line provider,”


Alexander continues. “For example, we have all types of organic mineral, from glycinates, to liquid lysinates to chelates based on soy. We know the advantages and disadvantages of each.” So the company can offer advice and have a technical exchange with nutritionists, rather than always having to try to persuade them that one particular type of organic mineral is the best in all situations. The same applies with pre and probiotics, with betaine products (the Hepatron range, available in liquid, powder, HCl and anhydrous forms) and with mycotoxin binders. “We can recommend the best product for the job rather than the only product we have,” says Alexander. Biochem has a total of 15 product managers who are divided


between innovation and application across the different additive groups. It was, Alexander believes, a good plan made years ago to establish this structure in which, for each product group, one person will focus on R&D and innovation while another will interact with nutritionists and farmers. This leads to a conversation in which new research is always directed


PAGE 36 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 FEED COMPOUNDER


towards finding solutions based on practical problems and opportunities. As, year by year, the genetic potential and actual performance of livestock species increases, while simultaneously there is a pressure to reduce inclusion levels of additives in feed, so the need for the bioavailabilty and functionality to be improved continues relentlessly. Which means there is always a need for more and more research to continuously develop and improve products and their application. As a very technically focussed company, Biochem is well-placed to deliver. Whether it is growth rate, or fertility, or strategies to reduce the use of antibiotics, in whichever species, and whether it is looking at individual molecules or the effect of using them in different combinations, there is indefinite scope for improving the fund of knowledge. As Alexander says, Biochem must have had some success in


persuading customers to trust in and rely on the efficacy of their additives, because the company’s growth has been remarkable. Today, it is approaching 85 million euros in turnover, almost doubling in the last six years, has over 250 employees and operates in more than 60 countries through the company’s own subsidiaries and more than 50 distributors worldwide. The domestic German market still accounts for 30 per cent of sales but exports are becoming more and more important. Biochem today is very much an international company with a sound, reliable, trustworthy technical science and research based manufacturing capability at home in Germany, together with a global branch and distribution network


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