USSEC’s Philippine team conducted a series of technical seminars from July 1 to 5 to promote the production of full fat soy made from U.S. soybeans.
Led by Dr. Neneth Reas and Dr. Ben Oliveros, with four other external speakers, the team conducted two roundtable meetings and a seminar in Davao City on July 1 and 2, and three other seminars in Manila on July 3-5. More than 180 participants from several commercial feed companies and full fat soy producers, animal nutritionists, and quality assurance staff from throughout the country participated, including ten members of the technical and production staff of San Miguel Purefoods Inc. Other companies included Philippine Foremost/La Filipina Uygongco, the largest importer of U.S. soybean meal in the Philippines; Bounty Fresh Foods Inc.; Universal Robina Corp., the only company in the Philippines that crushes soybeans; and many in-house feedmillers.
The series of seminars covered the extrusion process, animal nutrition, and quality assurance. All programs began by providing participants with information on the supply of U.S. soybeans and soybean meal. USSEC’s program on sustainability certification was also presented. Regarding nutrition, the advantages of U.S. soybean meal in terms of higher metabolizable energy, digestible amino acids, and better consistency were fully discussed. The production of full fat soy using U.S. soybeans showed how they could save costs by partially replacing coconut and palm oil in feed formulations. To date, San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI), a subsidiary of San Miguel Pure Foods, already has 12 functional units of INSTAPRO extruder machines producing about 7,500 metric tons (MT) of full fat soy per month, or about 80,000 MT per year. Another 12 units, doubling that amount, will be installed in the later part of 2019.
The Philippines has consistently grown its soybean imports due to the increasing production and demand for full fat soy used in swine and poultry diets. Imports of U.S. Soy for full fat soy production have grown to 300,000 MT from less than 50,000 MT of U.S. Soy over the past four to five years, due in no small part to USSEC’s activities and results dervied from its demonstration farms. These events aim to provide both full fat soy producers and end users to realize the value of using solely U.S. soybeans and soybean meal.