India is today one of the world’s largest producers of eggs and broiler meat. The poultry industry in India has undergone a major shift in structure and operation during the last two decades. transforming from backyard farming to a major industry with many integrated players. This is also accredited to the rising demand for poultry product from the eggetarian and non-vegetarian populations in the country. With the growing demand, the poultry industry in India is still expected to continue to increase.    

What are your best-known solutions/products/services?

Chr. Hansen is a global, differentiated bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Uniquely positioned to drive positive change through microbial solutions and backed by more than 145 years of innovation and its curiosity to pioneer, Chr. Hansen constantly seeks to anticipate global trends.

Chr. Hansen India was established in 2004. With its regional office in Mumbai and more than 40 employees, Chr. Hansen has proven a valuable innovation partner to many of India’s leading dairies and nutraceutical companies over the past 17 years, and Chr. Hansen’s collaboration with leading industry players is well acknowledged.

Chr. Hansen has now taken the decision to enter directly into the livestock sector in India with its innovative probiotic solutions for the poultry and dairy markets. This decision is in line with Chr. Hansen’s approach to be directly present in the market with its own probiotic products and silage inoculants. With the flagship probiotic products portfolio, namely GalliPro®, GalliPro® MS, SiloSolve® FC and Bovacillus™.  As part of the technical service offered, the market will experience increased focus on local product trials and data generation for customers.

A new application lab has been established in Singapore as a service to customers, providing different in-house lab services on process feed and other solution-oriented tasks.

Which industry sectors are your customers in and which ones are growing fastest?

Chr. Hansen India’s customer segment includes both the poultry and cattle segments. Our business focuses on feed mills, integrator, poultry and dairy farms. Our products coverall stages of poultry production – from hatch, when the birds are most vulnerable, to market when they are most valuable. For cattle, we offer high quality silage inoculants, a specialized technology to preserve organic dry matter while retaining nutrition value and palatability. Our newest probiotic solutions for dairy cows help support performance and health of cattle.

What are your most recent product innovations?

GalliPro® Fit is Chr. Hansen’s first probiotic to combine three unique strains in one product to address some of the key challenges faced by poultry producers today. Together, the selected strains in GalliPro® Fit have been proven to effectively boost prevention programs, contribute to food safety by limiting the growth of enteric pathogens and modulate the immune system in poultry. At the same time, it brings production profitability.

GalliPro® Fit has been proven to be effective in the following key areas:

• Boosts prevention programs. Modulates the immune system and prevents necrotic enteritis,
• Contributes to Food Safety. Helps to keep pathogens like: Salmonella spp. and E. coli under control,
• Brings Profitability. Performance improvement and nutritional value drive strong profitability with a positive return,
• Risk reduction. GalliPro® Fit effect is tested in customers’ feed. GalliPro® Fit effect is tested against customers’ farm pathogens,
• Easy. Three carefully selected, heat stable strains in one bag provide predictable outcomes.

What are the major trends and developments affecting your category and your customers, and how are you responding?

When it comes to livestock, animal producers are at the forefront of the fight against antimicrobial resistance, adopting alternative solutions in animal farming. We know that our customers are actively looking for and adopting new alternatives to increase biosecurity and health status of herds and flocks without resorting to antibiotics.

With this, animal producers face the double challenge of increasing production and providing nutritious food items to a growing human population, while at the same time reducing the use of antibiotics in animals being raised for this purpose.

Using probiotics in feed has shown to be beneficial for supporting healthy digestion as well as the immune system, leading to a reduction in mortality rates, increasing growth and an overall improvement of animal performance. However, not all probiotics are created equal. Choosing the right microbial strain for the desired effect for the individual animal is crucial. Chr. Hansen’s strains and products are the result of rigorous science-based research, with documented effect.

What’s your strategy for succeeding in the current climate?

Chr. Hansen has joined the UN Climate Initiative to limit global temperature rise to 1.5^oC and commits to set ambitious carbon emission reduction targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative. By setting a science-based target in line with a 1.5°C future, we make a commitment to provide solutions for a more climate friendly future.

We are currently mapping the entire value chain to account for all scopes 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions to be able to set the most accurate and ambitious targets. We expect to announce the new targets at the end of the financial year 2020/21.

Improving CO2 efficiency by 25% across the entire company A target to improve CO2 efficiency by 25%, relative to base year 2013/14, guides our efforts and actions until the extensive process of setting science-based targets is finalized. As a company, we have experienced solid organic growth over the past decade and guided by this target, we have been able to ensure that, along the way, we have been able to improve CO2 emissions relative to our growing output and keep our absolute emissions stable.

100% renewable electricity by 2025 Chr. Hansen is committed to ensure that by 2025, 100% of the electricity used across all global sites are powered by renewable energy. A first and significant step towards this was taken in 2020, when Chr. Hansen entered an ambitious 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the organization Better Energy. This ensures that 100% of the electricity need for all of our sites in Denmark, corresponding to the usage of 15,000 Danish households, is powered by renewables. The electricity consumption in Denmark makes up 40% of our total, global consumption. We are currently exploring how to scale this model to cover all of our global sites.

Central to the agreement is our ambition to contribute to the global transition to green energy, which happens through the construction and opening of two new solar parks in Denmark. The energy supply is secured with power production from a mix of several other renewable sources such as wind or biogas, to ensure a steady supply even when there is no sunshine.

100% circular management of biowaste Up or re-cycling waste streams and thinking in circular management flows ensure more efficient use of resources and avoided CO2 emissions. Looking at Chr. Hansen’s waste flows, the main left-over from our culture production is called eluate. This is composed primarily of water, nutrients and yeast, which means that it is still rich in nutrients and valuable for alternative production flows. In Denmark, Chr. Hansen has recycled its eluate for biogas and agricultural purposes for years, similarly in France. Our ambition is to ensure that all our sites are able to apply this way of managing waste. Getting there requires the right equipment and engagement of relevant local partners capable of upcycling the eluate.

Carbon Disclosure Project Each year, Chr. Hansen reports to the Carbon Disclosure Project on climate change. Our 2020 score is B. In particular the score highlights the integration of climate into our business strategy and governance. We are happy to see that our efforts materialize in progress on the CDP ranking. With our new targets and initiatives in place, we are highly motivated and committed to advance this even further.

What’s the latest news from your company?

Chr. Hansen offers an online education program which allows veterinarians and nutritionists to have access to a number of comprehensive self-learning modules detailing the various modes of action of probiotics in food-producing animals. This program provides a unique chance for animal and feed industry professionals to get an insight into the knowledge that Chr. Hansen’s animal Health & Nutrition experts have gathered from decades in the lab and on the farms,  in close cooperation with our customers, nutritionists and vets.

Conveniently, each lesson takes less than 15 minutes to complete and is available when and wherever the participants please.

Can you tell us about any areas where you’re currently making technical advances?

In recent years, knowledge about the gut microbiome in humans and animals has increased tremendously. In poultry, we focus on achieving a healthy gut since a well-functioning gut is the key engine for growth, health and welfare of the birds. Agility of the microbiome is closely linked to gut health. Maintaining the microbiome agile by making sure the digestive tract is populated with a diverse and functional microbiota is crucial for the chicken to withstand the challenges as a production animal. Nowadays we are looking at more holistic approaches for obtaining a healthy gut microbiota that provides protection against pathogens and shapes the digestive physiology and the immune system in beneficial ways.

We are at the very beginning of a new era of knowledge and understanding of the chicken’s microbiome. We are scratching the surface of something bigger. However, what we know from other species including humans can only make us optimistic. The progress will be fast, allowing for the development of new powerful, natural solutions.

Could you please share your views on Poultry Industry for our readers?

India is today one of the world’s largest producers of eggs and broiler meat. The poultry industry in India has undergone a major shift in structure and operation during the last two decades. transforming from backyard farming to a major industry with many integrated players. This is also accredited to the rising demand for poultry product from the eggetarian and non-vegetarian populations in the country. With the growing demand, the poultry industry in India is still expected to continue to increase.