Evonik has announced plans to acquire intends a large technology package from the French company METabolic EXplorer (METEX) and has submitted a binding offer on October 27th. The bid is subject to approval by Evonik committees. METEX, which is headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand (France), has succeeded in developing a fermentation process for manufacturing methionine. The binding Evonik offer includes the takeover of METEX’s entire methionine technology as well as patents, essential bacteria strains, and the inoLaTM brand.

Calysta recently named Tomas Belloso, Ph.D., to the new position of Vice President, Regulatory Affairs. “He is an important addition to our management team as Calysta moves toward commercial production of FeedKind® protein, a new fish and animal feed ingredient targeted at replacing fishmeal.” Dr. Belloso previously served as Regulatory Compliance Manager at the Feed Division of Wilbur-Ellis.

TASA was presented with the IFFO Leadership and Innovation award by IFFO President Mike Copeland at the 56th Annual Conference\'s Gala Dinner. This is the second year that IFFO has held the awards, selected by the IFFO Management Board. The award had previously been split into two categories with TASA submitting substantial applications for both. TASA’s strong focus on R&D won the Board’s approval for the Leadership part of the award. For the innovation part of the award, TASA won for their SUMAQ project Businesswomen of Huanta.

After the successful integration of Format International, Cargill has re-named its feed and food software business to Format Solutions. Format Solutions specializes in the design, authoring and marketing of recipe optimization, ingredient allocation, operational efficiency and food and feed formulation solutions for the animal feed, aqua feed, pet food, human food, premix and other industries.

Evonik Industries\' plans to build a second world-scale plant for the production of the amino acid DL-methionine in Singapore are fully on schedule. The company recently marked the official start of construction with a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony. The complex will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 metric tons and is expected to become operational in 2019, with investment costs of more than half a billion euros. The new production complex will increase Evonik’s annual capacity of MetAMINO® to a total of approximately 300,000 metric tons in Asia, and to approximately 730,000 metric tons worldwide.

Diamond V® has announced the hiring of JC Filippi, who has joined as Managing Director -- Asia, based in the company\'s Asia Office in Bangkok, Thailand. Prior to joining Diamond V, Mr. Filippi was Managing Director for Cargill Premix Nutrition -- Southeast Asia. “JC’s experience, leadership, and extensive network in the Asian animal agriculture industry will be valuable as we continue to grow our Asian business.”

Dryer and cooler manufacturer Geelen Counterflow has received the five star “Outstanding” BREEAM certificate for its new sustainable office building in Haelen, The Netherlands. The office was measured and evaluated during the first year after its completion and achieved a record score of 99,94%, which makes it the highest scoring building out of over 500.000 certified buildings worldwide. The building for 50 office employees generates 50% more solar energy than it needs for heating, air conditioning, lighting and computers. The extra energy is used in the factory for laser cutting of stainless steel and recharging of electric forklift trucks. Where possible, the building materials are “Cradle to Cradle” certified, which means that they do no harm to the environment and that they can be re-used at the end of their lifetime.

Leiber GmbH has appointed Dr. Pradeep Padmaja Jayaprasad as Regional Sales Coordinator Asia Pacific (APAC) of their animal nutrition unit. Before joining Leiber GmbH, he focused specifically on research such as disease management, genetic manipulation and ornamental fisheries, at several universities and faculties in various nations including Thailand, Malaysia and India.

Nutriad has appointed Dr. Jorge Enrique Cruz as Technical/Commercial Manager. Dr. Cruz will be responsible for sales and technical support to Nutriad’s commercial and distributor network in Mexico & Central America. With a track record of in field support as an independent consultant, as well as a technical manager in the feed additives industry, Dr. Cruz is well positioned to support customers in the region.

Calysta’s FeedKind® protein, a new fish and animal feed ingredient, has been named as the Most Disruptive Innovation at the Bridge2Food Protein Awards. “We felt that we needed to award an innovation which is truly disruptive both from a technological point of view and also one that identifies alternative sources of protein to meet the protein demands of a growing population.”

A-Systems will launch its new formulation software Allix3 at EuroTier. This easy-to-use software offers multiple upgrades to the diet formulation model. Allix3 enables new non-linear optimization models and considers the raw materials flows in feed manufacturers in order to optimize purchases, among other features.

On Sept. 3, professors and experts from the Alltech China Research Alliance gathered to share their research progress and discuss the most pressing issues in the animal feed and nutrition industry. “Alltech wants to provide agricultural solutions for China’s future, which will have an impact on the food and feed industry around the world. To identify these solutions, we formed the Alltech China Research Alliance.”

Diamond V has announced plans to expand manufacturing capacity to support the increased production of natural, nutritional health products for animals. Plans call for the current manufacturing complex in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to expand through new capital investment of $28 million beginning in September 2016 with anticipated completion in 2018. The planned expansion will add a second manufacturing facility of approximately 97,800 square feet along with related manufacturing capabilities, including storage, fermentation, drying, grinding, packaging, and transportation equipment.

At the VIV China event held from September 6-8 in Beijing, Nutriad launched the new products Sanacore®GM, a functional feed additive aimed to reduce the impact of diseases and parasites on productivity of fish and shrimp, and Nutri®-Lyso, a natural enhancer of digestive and absorption process based on lysophospholipids for both aquaculture and livestock applications. “We are extremely encouraged and excited over our first launch of aqua products in China."

USA-based Calysta recently opened a facility in Teesside, UK to manufacture sample quantities of FeedKind® protein, a proprietary, new fish and animal feed ingredient targeted at replacing fishmeal. The facility will become fully operational in Q4 2016. When completed, the facility is expected to provide employment for 35 to 40 people.

At its site in Antwerp (Belgium), Evonik has inaugurated the world's first plant for the production of a new source of methionine specifically designed for shrimp and other crustaceans. The product, sold under the name AQUAVI® Met-Met, is an aquaculture feed additive to make shrimp farming more efficient and sustainable. AQUAVI® Met-Met, a dipeptide made up of two DL-methionine molecules, achieves the same weight increase in shrimp and crustaceans as conventional methionine sources, but uses only half the active substance.

Learn all about the latest BESTMIX Feed formulation release during the webinar on September 22. The latest version offers improved functionality that will help generate reports more efficiently, compare formulas with references, apply rounding rules in multiblend optimization, and manage ingredients more efficiently.

GlobalVetLINK (GVL®) and Merck Animal Health announced a partnership for GVL’s electronic Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) System, FeedLINK®.

Nutriad has appointed Angela Maria Mejia Vargas as Area Manager for all South American countries outside Brazil. “I am excited about this next step in my career and look forward to joining the Nutriad team as I am convinced that the solutions Nutriad provides can help feed producers in South America in managing complex nutritional and health challenges."

Anpario has appointed several new employees in line with their corporate strategy to provide greater support to distributors and increase sales growth in Europe.