Progres® and Progut® – sustainable feed ingredients contributing to nutrient efficiency and welfare of animals

The sustainability of animal production is currently one of the key business drivers for the feed industry. Sustainability is a broad term with a lot of different interpretations. According to FEFAC Feed Sustainability Charter 2030 sustainable feed production should “contribute to climate-neutral animal production, increase resource and nutrient efficiency, promote responsible sourcing practices and contribute to improving animal health and welfare”. In animal production, feed ingredients have a major influence on the sustainability by affecting carbon footprint, resource and nutrient efficiency and health and welfare of animals. For this reason, choice of feed materials and their sourcing practices have become increasingly important for the feed companies. The main focus is naturally on volume products but smaller ingredients can have a role, too.

Progut® is produced from spent brewery yeast according to the principals of circular economy. The raw material is sourced nearby the production plant and upgraded to a valuable feed ingredient having a carbon footprint of 1.17 kg CO²eq/kg. Progres® is produced by thermal distillation from crude tall oil, a side stream of kraft pulping process, part of paper and board production. Pine trees, used as the raw material for pulping are a renewable natural resource growing in northern forest and does not conflict the food chain nor contribute to deforestation. The production plant is located close to the raw material sources enabling efficient logistics and thus reduced overall emissions. In the distillation process, side products of pulping process are converted into valuable products by energy that is generated from the upgrading process.  All the production processes have been designed according to the principles of sustainable development resulting in a maximal resource efficiency. This is leading to the very low carbon footprint of Progres®, being 0.094 kg CO²eq/kg. The production plant of Forchem Oyj that produce Progres® has both ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS certificates and was awarded a Platinum EcoVadis Medal in 2021.

Progut® supplementation in feeds has shown to improve the performance of monogastric animals, aquaculture and ruminants contributing to improved nutrient efficiency. It positively modulates immunity and intestinal microbiota of animals, supporting their welfare. Addition of Progres® to feeds has improved the growth and feed conversion rates of broilers, turkeys, piglets and calves, showing clearly its positive effect on nutrient efficiency. Through its proven effects on improvement of intestinal integrity and microbiota Progres® also supports the health and welfare of animals and reduces the need of antibiotics in the animal production. By this way both Progut® and Progres® contribute to the realization of the targets of sustainable feed production.