In early July 2019, at the customer’s invitation, USSEC visited the JSC Center-Soya (a soy processing unit of the KubanAgroProd group of companies), the leading by-pass soy protein manufacturer in Russia. The soy processing facilities of the company are located in the Tbilisskaya community in the Krasnodar region.
The company crushes soybeans and other oilseeds and produces by-pass soybean meal for dairy cattle and soybean cakes supplied to local feed mills and animal production facilities. It manufactures expeller soybean meal, by-pass soy protein, soy lecithin, and degummed soy oil. The storage capacity of the raw materials (grain elevator) is 38,000 tons. The total soybean crushing capacity is 6,500 metric tons (MT) per month. For the processing of soybeans, the company has installed the equipment of leading U.S. companies, Anderson press-expeller and Insta-Pro ExPress.
In 2005, JSC Center Soya, together with the All-Russian Research Institute of physiology, biochemistry, and nutrition of farm animals (BIFIP) and farm animal feed specialists from the University of North Carolina, developed and mastered the technology of "by-pass” or “protected" soy protein with trade brands for the first time in Russia. Today, JSC Center Soya is the unique plant in Russia that produces by-pass protein.
During the visit to JSC Center Soya, USSEC consultants Dr. Maria Domoroshchenkova and Dr. Jan van Eys engaged in technical discussions on the applied technology and quality of soybeans and VA soy proteins produced by the company. They also visited the soy processing shop and the quality control lab.

The USSEC consultants discussed the importance of controlling digestible amino acids and digestible energy evaluation in produced VA protein products and the importance of keeping constant quality parameters of soy protein products. During their visit to the quality control lab, they emphasized the relationship of raw materials and final products quality and described the benefits of U.S. soybeans.

Russian clients have complained about the poor quality of domestic soybeans. A lot of soybeans have green color and the company experiences problems with the disposal of finished products due to production of soy oil with dark green color and inconsistent protein quality of protein products.

The USSEC consultants, escorted by local nutritionists, visited two dairy cattle operations using soy protein additives manufactured by Center Soya, and one potential client of by-pass soy proteins located in the Krasnodar region. According to Dr. van Eys’ estimate, one farm had good results with the Belkoff product and one had disappointing results. The production and marketing or application of these products in the growing dairy sector could be rationalized and improved. An improved nutritional underpinning of the product may enhance application and economical effectiveness.
Depending on the market situation JSC Centre Soya could be a potential buyer of U.S. soybeans after U.S. soybean import restrictions are lifted.