Biomin hosted 800 delegates from 76 countries at its World Nutrition Forum in Cape Town, South Africa from October 3 to 5, 2018. The theme of the scientific conference was S.C.O.P.E. or “Scientific Challenges and Opportunities in the Protein Economy.”
Over 40 expert speakers from industry and academia from across the globe explored the latest market trends and scientific developments relating to food-producing animals. In addition, delegates enjoyed opportunities for networking and experiencing the richness and diversity of local culture.
Market outlooks, consumption patterns and technology were discussed during the Thursday morning plenary session of the World Nutrition Forum.
As the world becomes increasingly multipolar, companies must become local citizens which means domestic invention, production and service rather than having a narrow footprint, according to Dr Erich Erber, Founder of BIOMIN. “You must keep the juice in the steak,” he summarized.
Growth projections are optimistic. “You are definitely in an industry with big opportunity,” Nan-Dirk Mulder, Senior Global Animal Protein Analyst at Rabobank told delegates.
“Growing global incomes provide opportunities for entire animal protein industry, but the added production must be safe, affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly,” reminded Dr. Vanbrabant, Managing Director of Biomin and CEO of ERBER Group.
“Radical technological development must be used to close yield gaps in Africa and Southeast Asia,” asserted Dr. Peer Ederer of Africa Enablers. “This will solve many food security problems without having to increase land use or changing consumer demand,” he added.
The fast pace of technological advancement in the fields of next-generation gene sequencing (so-called –Omics technologies), mycotoxin detection and mitigation, and the adoption of Farm 4.0 methods was cited as a trend that promises to reshape the protein economy.
The mycotoxin session brought climate change, tools to predict mycotoxin occurrence patterns and novel mitigation strategies relying upon enzymatic biotransformation (the MYCOzyme concept) to the fore.
“Climate change means that we will likely need to change our mitigation strategies,” explained Professor Naresh Magan of Cranfield University.
Earlier in the week, Biomin hosted the kick-off meeting of MycoSafe-South, a research project to tackle mycotoxin-related food safety issues in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We will see a protein revolution in Africa,” stated Albert Van Rensburg, Regional Director Africa and Managing Director of Biomin South Africa.
Click here to learn more about the World Nutrition Forum
