At the invitation of USSEC to join efforts in developing the growing Mediterranean aquaculture market for high value soy protein ingredients and in an attempt to promote the superiority of U.S. soy products, the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) participated in a September event organized in Athens, Greece.
OSC’s Barry McGraw and Quintin Honerman of Great Plains Processing, Minnesota, USA participated in the two-day conference dedicated to advances in value-added soy protein ingredients for sustainable and profitable aqua and animal production.
Mr. McGraw introduced EnzoMeal™ as a sustainable soy ingredient for farmed aqua species to more than 50 key aqua industry delegates from Greece. This is a state of the art, high value soy product developed by OSC through a patented technology that removes nondigestible carbohydrates and increases crude proteins in the soybean meal, without compromising the amino acid composition and making it easier for fish to digest.
Information presented was well received by the audience and several questions were addressed and answered during the session. This demonstrated the interest of the Greek aqua industry for new solutions to replace fishmeal from aqua feeds. Introducing EnzoMeal® to the Greeks is expected to greatly expand the Mediterranean aquaculture industry’s access to this attractive alternative to fishmeal and other soybean-based diets.
As recent fish feeding trials already demonstrated, the EnzoMeal™ product should be part of the solution resolving the challenges that to date have limited a high level of soybean use as a substitute fish feed protein. In recognition of this innovation, OSC received prestigious award honors in recent years and will continue the development of sustainable soy ingredients for farmed aqua species.
Mr. Honerman gave a presentation on Great Plains, a company which recently started to hydrolyze soy products and is prepared to manage the expectations brought on by the growth in the animal feed supplement industry. Opening at the beginning of 2019, GPP Yankton has quickly exceeded customers’ expectations by adding the capability of creating a dustless product. GPP is a quality certified Safe Feed-Safe Food/FAMI QS and GMP+ company, the 7th FAMI QS company in the U.S. to become certified.
U.S. Soy provides much of what fish need: high protein, essential fatty acids, unsaturated fats, and a favorable digestible amino acid profile. The advanced processes patented by OSC and used by GPP to remove the anti-nutritional factors, help fish nutritionists to include a much higher percentage of soybean meal. EnzoMeal® should be the best available option when balancing nutrition and costs, and as the key ingredient is produced in abundance in the United States, it will likely remain affordable for years to come.
