USSEC organized one-on-one extrusion training in four feed manufacturing plants using the extrusion process from July 8 to 11 in Tunisia.
USSEC consultant Dr. Dave Albin, a nutrition and extrusion process specialist from Insta-Pro, escorted by Dr. Riadh Karma, USSEC Country Representative – Tunisia, conducted the training.
The USSEC team visited two fish feed plants: SOTUPAP, a fish feed plant belonging to the largest aquaculture group in Tunisia and GNA, a fish feed and pet food plant. The two other extrusion plants visited belong successively to the major integrated poultry groups in Tunisia: GLO (PGH Group) and MEDIMIX (Alfa Group).

Dr. Albin conducted one-on-one training on soybean extrusion for an audience of nutritionists, engineers, and technicians of these units. The USSEC consultant gave advanced presentations on extrusion, soy extrusion methods, and quality control of the different products (soybean meal, expressed pressed meal, soy-based fish feeds, and pet foods). In addition to technical aspects, an interactive discussion focused on the high value of U.S. origin soybeans and its sustained quality. A tour of each unit was followed by interactive meetings, allowing Dr. Albin to provide the staff with high level information and advices on process effectiveness and related nutritional requirements for better performance.

These four training days, one for each company, were very informative for the technical staff of these local companies. Dr. Albin was able to add some guidelines on how they could improve their extrusion process and the feed quality as well as increasing their understanding of the value of U.S. soybean meal compared to other origins.