most pressing concerns

FEEDINFO SUMMIT

Feedinfo Summit to unpack industry’s most pressing concerns

Spain is among the top three EU producers of pork, poultry meat, and veal. Its 782 feed factories make over 26 million tonnes of feed per year, the most of any European country. Its importance in the continent’s animal nutrition sector makes it a logical spot to host the next global Feedinfo Summit.

In late September, senior leaders from companies across the animal nutrition value chain, from feed additives manufacturers and premix producers to compound feed manufacturers and integrated farmers, will gather in a seaside hotel in Barcelona for two days of discussion and analysis of the most critical issues facing the animal nutrition industry.

In the words of Olympia Theocharous, Head of Content for Communications and Events at Feedinfo’s parent company Agribriefing, the Feedinfo Summit has been designed from its inception to inform those in managerial and C-suite positions. “We are discussing the issues that leaders want to know about. We didn’t just pluck these ideas from anywhere; we developed the content of this agenda in collaboration with the Feedinfo Leaders Network, a panel of CEOs from a range of companies from across the world, asking them ‘what is keeping you up at night?’

This year’s Summit will discuss important questions around inflation, supply chain challenges, sustainability, and other high-level concerns.

“By attending the event, you will benefit from the opportunity to discuss with your peers, hear from independent experts on stage, and inform your strategic decision-making over the coming years.”

INFLATION, LOGISTICS, AND OTHER PRESSING CONCERNS

Unsurprisingly, inflation is top-of-mind, and as companies across the value chain are searching for ways to cope with it, the Feedinfo Summit seeks to foster dialogue between actors at various levels. “We have a session which is specifically focused on bringing together representatives from integrated farms to talk about the challenges that livestock farming is facing, and we also have a representative there from the European Pig Producers (EPP) to represent smaller farms,” Theocharous observes.

“There are a lot of really important questions we need to be talking about here. Are consumers ready for increases in the price of meat and dairy products? What are the consequences of rising costs on farmers, and on the shape of the farming industry going forward? How can we ease pressure on farmers? How do we maintain the progress that has been made on issues like animal welfare and climate-friendly production in such an environment?” Meanwhile, supply chain challenges are expected to be another hot topic at the Summit. “From the increase in prices of transporting goods, higher fuel and energy prices, and even the availability of feed raw materials, there are a lot of logistics challenges at the moment. These are things we are discussing at the Feedinfo Summit, by having independent experts from those sectors come in to actually explain why things are so challenging and what Photo courtesy of AgriBriefing impact we can expect on our sector over the coming months and even years.” Of course, leaders must not only have their eyes on navigating today’s challenges, but also on heading off

FEEDINFO SUMMIT

tomorrow’s. “We’ve got a series of roundtables that are going to be assessing different environmental challenges, followed by a summary panel where all of the roundtable hosts will jump on stage and tell us a little bit about what was discussed and what we, as an industry, must do to address this issue,” Theocharous explains.

Moreover, there remains a lively interest in actively cultivating a positive image for the animal protein sector as consumers increasingly have other options. “By bringing WHAT THE INDUSTRY IS SAYING in some independent voices and industry experts to sit “The organization was excellent, the audience from the appropriate field on a panel on this subject, and the talks and presentations were educational and informative. This I think we’re going to get some is what makes the Feedinfo Summit such an excellent event.” interesting ideas.”

Finally, because bringing in “With its diverse program, top speakers and great networking an infusion of new and different opportunities, Eastman is very pleased to sponsor the Feedinfo Summit perspectives can often serve We look forward to meeting new faces and sharing industry insights!” as a catalyst for innovative thinking, the Summit has made “The Feedinfo Summit is an excellent platform for suppliers and the it a priority to incorporate feed industry to meet, exchange ideas and discuss new developments. speakers from outside the industry. “We have the former marketing director of EasyJet to We can pick up on market trends and learn about other perspectives. For BASF Animal Nutrition, this is an opportunity to position ourselves in the market, expressing our approach and benefits: The science of sustainable feed that succeeds.” talk to us about how the airline industry has overcome issues like the disruption from COVID, environmental challenges, and PR challenges,” she explains. “So as we face parallel issues in the future, we can learn from his experience and ensure that we are dealing with these effectively.” DIVERSE PROFILES AND MORE INTERACTION

Five years on from Feedinfo’s first event for the animal nutrition industry, Theocharous is able to draw on first-hand experience in designing a successful conference.

For example, feedback from last year’s Summit inspired her to add in a second roundtable session, because the format was such a hit.

Also popular were the sessions which had new faces and outside perspectives, something which this year’s event lineup has taken into account. “Our sustainability roundtables are going to be chaired by academics, representatives from consultancies or NGOs. That means we can get independent input from someone who’s not necessarily working directly with our value chains.”

Global representation is also important, she says; while the uncertainty of COVID continued to weigh on long-distance travel last year, this year appears more promising. “We’ve got speakers already coming from India as well as Southeast Asia, and we’ve got attendees coming from South America and Africa. It’s a much more global event than in 2021.” Finally, she says, the team is looking at redesigning the structured networking session, because of the value attendees place on being able to meet and exchange with potential partners in other parts of the industry. “We know deals are done at our event. We know relationships are formed at our events. We want you to be able to meet others at the Feedinfo Summit.” By Shannon Behary, senior editor The Feedinfo Summit will take place at the Hilton Diagonal Mar, Barcelona on 26th & 27th September 2022. Featuring high profile speakers such as Adriano Marcon, President of Cargill Animal Nutrition; Fulco van Lede, CEO of Nutreco; Vignesh Soundararajan, Managing Director of Suguna Foods; Soon Bin Neoh, Managing Director of Soon Soon Group; Martin Kropp, President Animal Nutrition EMEAI of ADM and Jaume Coma, Director of Nutrition of Vall Companys Group, the agenda contains a series of C-level interviews and discussions and independent market intelligence from our analysts. View the full agenda and register to attend the Feedinfo Summit here.