GMP+ International Annual Report 2024

Page 1


New vision, new leadership

Annual report 2024

Editors:

Mirella van der Kleij - Marketing & Communication GMP+ International Richard Doughty - Doughty Consultancy

Design: Studio Ruig

Photography:

Adriaan Verhoeven

Beeldvoerders der Fotograf Berlin

iStock Shutterstock

Disclaimer:

This publication was established for the purpose of providing information to interested parties with respect the GMP+ standards. This publication will be updated regularly. GMP+ International B.V. is not liable for any inaccuracies in this publication.

© GMP+ International B.V.

All rights reserved. The information in this publication may be consulted on the screen, downloaded and printed as long as this is done for your own, non-commercial use. For other desired uses, prior written permission should be obtained from the GMP+ International B.V.

Safe and sustainable feed, worldwide

Welcome to our 2024 annual report

As the world’s largest scheme for safe and sustainable feed, this has been another year of working to add value to our community and get closer to achieving our goal of safe and sustainable feed, worldwide.

I joined as GMP+ International’s Managing Director in October 2024, meaning I get the honour of celebrating the hard work of the team, and community, in this annual report.

‘You can expect to see us building on our foundations’

Rijswijk, the Netherlands, April 2025

A new vision

In early 2024, we launched our redesigned vision, mission, and values which are helping us build on our success in a changed world. We made this change because our community asked us to play our part in the biggest challenge the industry is facing today; sustainability. We will maintain our vigilance on feed safety while elevating sustainability to the same level.

2024 was another year of progress for GMP+ International. We had good financial results, effective operations, and we maintained and built on our strong brand as an organisation and community. Together these are strong assets we can leverage to achieve progress towards our vision of safe and sustainable feed, worldwide.

Preparing for the future

We also made investments, both in how we continued to invest in our team, but also in important modernisation projects like updating the GMP+ platform, including website and GMP+ Monitoring database – which were a big focus for the year, and a huge effort from colleagues across the organisation and stakeholders.

We also continued developing our range of sustainability-focused standards and services. We are actively speaking with our community to find the right solutions that help them meet their challenges.

Looking forward, you can expect to see us building on our foundations. We will be looking to grow our international impact, expand our sustainability offerings, improve how we collaborate with the community, and explore how technology can support us and our stakeholders.

Thank you

I want to thank the entire GMP+ team for their hard work and dedication throughout 2024. I am proud of the progress we have seen, and I am positive about the opportunities to collaborate with our community in 2025. Whatever the challenges, I am looking forward to a productive and positive year.

19,839

19,696 90 19 1,033

GMP+ FSA certified companies as of December 31, 2024

92 Countries with GMP+ FSA certified companies

1,335

GMP+ FRA certified companies as of December 31, 2024

26 Countries with GMP+ FRA certified companies

Organisation Overview

Governance

GMP+ International is an independent not for profit organisation, and registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (registration no. 27364542) as a private company with limited liability under Dutch law (B.V.). This legal form enables us to operate independently and in cooperation with partners around the world.

The mandate for the management of the organisation is laid down in our Articles of Association.

• Our shareholder is the GMP+ International Foundation; seven Dutch trade associations representing the whole feed chain.

• The chairman and secretary of GMP+ International Foundation compose the General Shareholders meeting.

• Our Supervisory Board consists of three independent persons. It serves as a sounding board, and advises and supervises the Management Board.

• Our Managing Director is the board of the organisation and authorised for final decision making in accordance with Dutch law, though for specified strategic decisions she needs the approval of the General Shareholders meeting or the Supervisory Board.

• Our staff includes our Management Board (GMP+ International’s Managing Director), who is supported by 34 employees in 4 teams.

Supervisory

Business strategy

2024 represents the second year of our 2023-2025 business strategy. It describes our overarching strategic objective, and a series of goals, strategies, and measures that will help us achieve that objective.

Goals:

1. Market leader for Feed Safety Assurance (GMP+ FSA)

2. Market leader for Feed Responsibility Assurance (GMP+ FRA)

3. Be an inspiring partner for our community

4. High scheme & services satisfaction

5. Positive financial performance

Objective:

‘We are the market leader in feed safety & sustainability schemes and services, by being an inspiring partner for our community.’

Strategies:

1. Our position:

We are the organisation our partners & Certification Bodies want to collaborate with by creating added value for both parties based on understanding the voice of the customer.

2. Scheme & Services:

We improve our market position by continuous improvement on the added value of our Scheme & Services.

3. Feed Responsibility Assurance:

We deploy our market position by taking the lead in achieving sustainability related (market) opportunities.

4. Market share:

We increase our market share by targeted initiatives in our focus countries.

5. Our colleagues:

We support our colleagues in achieving capacity for change by developing a growth mindset and effective collaboration.

6. Our organisation:

We are an agile organisation by embedding all aspects of continuous improvement in our DNA.

You can find out more about our activities in line with the strategy in the following department highlights.

Our story for our future work

Our vision, mission, and values will help us build on our success in a changed world.

Our redesigned values, mission, and vision will shape our efforts to ensure safe and sustainable feed, worldwide. They were developed by our team, working with stakeholders and experts, and will be the guiding principles our organisation uses in our new chapter.

Feed should be safe for animals, people, and our planet.

Our values

Leading

We have always taken the lead, and we continue to inspire our community to be forward-looking and take initiative.

Together

We achieve the best results for the entire feed chain by working closely with our community.

Mission

We enable every company in the feed chain to take responsibility for safe and sustainable feed.

Practical

We create standards that work in the real world and can be applied in practice throughout the feed chain.

Valuable

Beyond certification standards, we add value by sharing collective insights and valuable services with our community.

‘We will maintain our vigilance on feed safety, while playing our part in addressing the biggest challenge our community faces today; sustainability. In doing so, we want to be open, explicit, and transparent so everyone knows what to expect from us.’

Department hightlights

Updates from GMP+ International’s team on what they’ve been up to in 2024

Scheme & Customer Services

The Scheme & Customer Services team looks after GMP+ International’s Feed certification scheme and supporting services. This includes our standards which are regularly updated based on new insights on safe and sustainable feed practices, as well as customer services like our GMP+ Helpdesk and Risk Management tools.

How has the transition to the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme 2020 been progressing?

Our updated scheme works with principles and goals; allowing companies to find the right approach to feed safety for their unique situation. The transition from the previous scheme to the updated version has been a multi-year project. After announcing in 2021, we worked to get the updated scheme up and running, with some important milestones in 2024, including that after 1 March 2024 all audits were conducted under the updated scheme.

In 2024 the team worked to finish everything for implementation, including finalising all the scheme documents, translating key documents into more languages, exam updates, and helping with preparing IT systems.

We also organised sessions to support our community to work with this goal-oriented approach, because for some companies and Certification Bodies (CBs) it has been a shift in mindset. It demanded that we work together, listen to each other, and have open discussions with our stakeholders.

Your team was also involved in developing the Risk Management tools?

We share valuable knowledge about feed safety and sustainability with certified companies through our Risk Management tools (formerly known as Feed Support Products). These are practice and science-based sources of information that benefit everyone in the feed chain.

We wanted to make the Risk Management tools more user-friendly and accessible, so we used the knowledge and experience within our community to look at developments to our tools step by step, topic by topic, which helped to ensure it would more intuitively meet the needs of the users.

The feedback on the updated platform has been positive, with users finding it easier to locate the information and documents they need. And, our community is getting used to the new system, so while the content has not substantially changed, it is now much easier to access. It’s the difference between having a black box where it is difficult to know everything that it contains, versus a more open and intuitive system that actively shares what it can do for you.

Els
Els

Els

Looking forward, can you see more of a role for innovation and technology to support this work?

We manage hundreds of active risk assessments and recognise the need to harness big data to keep them current and effective in supporting feed safety.

Therefore, we have been keeping a close eye on machine learning. Last year we began collaborating with Wageningen University on developing a dashboard using prediction modelling to identify feed safety risks at an earlier stage. Stakeholders were involved in testing and shaping the tool to ensure its relevance. Using machine learning based on historical monitoring data, the dashboard has the potential to be used for updating risk assessments and other Risk Management tools.

And how has the team’s work on sustainability evolved this year?

Els

As our new corporate story makes clear, we are elevating our sustainability focus to reflect that the topic is getting more traction in the industry, and there are new developments happening in the market. We saw growth in GMP+ Feed Responsibility Assurance (FRA) certified companies, and we welcomed new team members who will be supporting our sustainability efforts.

In 2024 we launched two new GMP+ FRA standards (Sustainable Soy for companies supplying to the German market, and a pilot standard on measuring Carbon Footprint). After launching the new standards, we supported CBs and we trained our own auditors who are monitoring scheme implementation in the field.

We see the signals in the market that sustainability will continue to be important for the future, and we are bringing parties together to look at how we can best support in what is a rapidly moving market. For example, we looked closely at developments around the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) to see if there were market needs where we could support, and for our Carbon Footprint standard we are taking the learnings from our pilot and looking at how it could potentially work as an international standard. There’s lots of exciting developments to come.

Watch the video

Marketing & Communication

Marketing & Communication ensures communications are aligned with GMP+ International’s objectives and meet the needs of our stakeholders. To achieve this, they gather insights on stakeholder needs, develop and implement marketing and communication strategies, and support the wider team to communicate with our community.

How did your team contribute to strategic communications this year?

To involve both internal and external stakeholders in the importance we place on a sustainable sector, we have refined our mission, vision, positioning and guiding values which will help shape our work in the coming years (see page 14 & 15). We were keen to see if it was a story people believed in and if it resonated with our audiences, so our team validated the redesigned vision, mission, and values with our community and led several interviews with stakeholders before helping to launch this new corporate story publicly.

Much of your work involves connecting with the GMP+ Community, what does that involve?

Everything we do starts with customer insights. That is why we want to maintain good contact with our community, not only through our governance structures, but also through meetings, surveys, and our daily work. This way we know the needs of all our stakeholders – not only the usual suspects or the loudest, but all of them, large and small.

At the beginning of 2024, we conducted a survey among stakeholders to gain insights into whether the strategic areas we want to focus on align with their needs and what they see as important developments. One of the most important wishes that emerged was the desire to increase the scope of our existing scheme to cover more on sustainability. Other wishes concerned digitisation, both in in areas such as remote auditing, AI and blockchain, but also of our own services. Like with previous surveys, the responses confirmed our plans are still in line with what the community expects. We’re on the right track.

And your team did lots of work this year around digitising services?

Developing the GMP+ platform has been a big focus of our team’s efforts for some time. The main goal is to create a seamless user experience, whether a user is on the main website or within the login area. Our new website launched in April, which took half a year to make including restructuring and migrating content. A key feature was improving accessibility, such as for scheme documents; instead of PDF downloads, users can now view the documents directly in their web-browsers. This has improved the user experience, reduced errors and time spent on document management, and in-browser translators can also be used more easily.

Our team also led on developing the platform part where customers can access all our services, including our Risk Management tools like our Risk assessments and GMP+ Monitoring database. While this was launched in 2025, so much of the team’s hard work took place throughout 2024. Our community was integral here in providing input to define user-needs and a user-friendly design.

Marjon
Marjon
Marjon

Business Development

The Business Development team analyses market needs, promotes feed safety awareness, and finds opportunities to expand the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme through strategic partnerships and market development initiatives. They often represent the organisation externally, and translate market information and opportunities into improvements for the scheme and services.

Did GMP+ International grow in 2024?

In a challenging market, where some certification scheme owners are seeing a decline in the number of certified companies, we are pleased to be seeing stability in our feed safety certification, and continued growth in our sustainability offerings. We remain the market leader.

The market is changing. As we see companies either changing production locations to different regions, or acquiring companies in regions where production is more affordable, transportation into consumer markets is becoming more and more important. This emphasises the value of GMP+’s chain approach.

In 2024 we reviewed our business development strategy to look at our growth goals with an eye to 2030, and what market regions we are most looking to support. In line with our new corporate story, we are promoting our sustainability offerings alongside our existing feed safety work. With this approach we are widening our knowledge sharing beyond safety to also incorporate sustainability.

‘We are widening our knowledge sharing’

And how did Business Development connect and share knowledge with the community?

We see ourselves as messengers. Not only communicating outwards about how GMP+ Feed Certification can support companies, but also vice versa; taking the learnings from those discussions and bringing them back to GMP+ to ensure our scheme and services are meeting the needs of both current and potential customers. Our presence at international events is a key part of that, and our local Task Forces were equally active over the past year, to identify and discuss a range of issues that we can bring back to help improve the support we offer.

We continued to expand our partnerships in 2024. We partnered with more GMP+ Registered Consultants, who are supporting companies with implementing our standards and providing customised training. In addition, we initiated two new strategic partnerships that align with our mission and further extend the reach and impact of the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme.

In the Netherlands, GMP+ partnered with Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling (United Against Foodwaste) to explore options for circularity, including to find more ways for former foodstuff to be used as substrate for insect feed. And we formed a partnership with PUM to share training to stimulate knowledge around feed safety in developing markets.

Olyn

Martin

Business Operations

The Business Operations team provides IT, HR operations, Office & Facilities management, Finance, Information management and Support for the whole organisation.

How did Business Operations engage with the GMP+ Community this year?

We continued our team’s engagement with our community through the IT User Group, composed of CBs and partners from our subcommittees. In 2024 we discussed the audit process, and the performance of the Resco app which we developed seven years ago for auditors to use as a digital aide for audits.

We gathered valuable feedback about the performance and use of the app, with some auditors making good use it, whereas others only use it minimally for capturing non-conformities, or not yet at all. We will be conducting some deepdive discussions to explore options for how it can best be improved.

For the future of auditing, together with other teams we are openly exploring not only the ways of integrating technology into audits – such as enabling more remote audits – but also how auditors qualify and are examined. We want to guarantee that auditors understand our scheme, but the current process is not necessarily ideal, and has potential for a technology-enabled system of continuous professional development. Whether it’s about the future of auditing or examinations, the IT User Group connects us with IT experts from our community who contribute valuable insights and feedback.

You also enable the wider GMP+ team, what changes did you make in 2024?

We also implemented our onboarding and offboarding process for employees. As GMP+ International grows, effectively managing the process of welcoming and saying goodbye to colleagues is important so that we avoid unnecessary staff turnover, and learn valuable lessons.

We conduct exit interviews to understand how we are doing as an organisation, identify lessons, and these are shared with the rest of the organisation. This can be valuable learning, as the opportunities for improvements we identify in one team can also be reflected in others.

We also take onboarding seriously. We want colleagues who are not only qualified, but also committed to the mission, therefore benefitting our community. As we prepare to grow, we will be developing this further throughout 2025.

Sounds like a busy year with a small team

With a small team, we achieved a great deal. We were able to deliver the services our customers expected of us, all while contributing to changes like the updates to the GMP+ platform. 2024 proved that we don’t just rely on each other, but that the organisation and community can rely on us.

Watch the video

Human Resources

Our Human Resources work aligns GMP+ International’s workforce with its mission and core values. Our HR strategy, including employment conditions and development, is integral to achieving our strategic goals.

Els

How is GMP+ International’s HR strategy going?

Our business strategy focuses on supporting the team with developing a growth mindset and improving collaboration through multidisciplinary work. 2024 was the second year of GMP+ International’s HR strategy. To fulfil our goals as an organisation, we need a whole team. This means we are focused on people with their talent, and not only on job titles or functions. We take a more holistic approach to human resources, aiming for more flexibility, higher job satisfaction, and ultimately stronger results. All with the aim to improve how we work together with and for the GMP+ Community.

In 2023 we focused on individual development, including assessments for our entire team to help them explore and build on their natural strengths. In 2024, we took the next step and strengthened how we work together as a team. We held various workshops, including sessions on effective communication, growth mindset, lean methodology, and on intercultural awareness because of the wide variety of nationalities and cultures who are part of the GMP+ team.

By the end of the third year of our strategy, our ambition is to be working together in a multi-disciplinary way, with a strong external focus. As a united team, we aim to be working entirely with and for the GMP+ Community to find practical and valuable solutions.

What were the big changes in 2024?

Operationally, we had some important recruitments to make in 2024. Of course we welcomed our new Managing Director Martine Boon to the organisation, but also we have been expanding the work of our GMP+ FRA team in line with our new vision and mission.

Sustainability is an area where we are seeking to build GMP+’s knowledge and skills. This means having a team in place with relevant knowledge and skills. Our investment in this to function today means we can be more prepared and ready for future developments.

‘Supporting the team with developing a growth mindset and improving collaboration’
Els

Works Council

In 2024, GMP+ International’s Works Council invested time in building collaboration with the organisation’s new Managing Director, and Supervisory Board. They also held training to ensure members were up to date and aligned on the Works Council’s purpose and rights, and on communicating effectively with the organisation’s leadership and the wider team.

‘The Works Council reflects on a dynamic and eventful year, with a primary focus on establishing a successful and constructive partnership with the newly appointed Managing Director. This collaboration laid the foundation for productive dialogue and aligned strategic priorities moving forward.’

New GMP+ platform

The GMP+ platform supports our community in managing all their GMP+ activities, whether a user is on the main website or within the login area. GMP+ International identified that our community needed an online platform which was future proof, secure, and could adapt to user requirements. For two and a half years, the needs and feedback of the community have shaped our platform. The results are an updated website and login area which offer a more intuitive, seamless, and user-friendly experience.

Website

Our public website is a place for new customers and stakeholders who want to know more about how GMP+ International can support them. 80%

User research: Average score for the usability of the new platform from GMP+ Community members 2024 April New website launched, with a focus on the digital interactive scheme documents June Risk Management tools with a focus on Risk Assessments September

Login area

Our login area is a dedicated space for our community, where GMP+ certified companies have fast access to their data.

• All relevant GMP+ information in one place.

• Easily view or download scheme documents.

• With our optimised structure, data loads in an instant.

‘It was no problem at all to find anything. It is rather simple, and I like the new colours.’
Certified company

The GMP+ Community helped shape the GMP+ platform. Find out how here

Product Overview

GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (FSA) certified companies

As of December 2024, 19,839 companies in 92 countries worldwide were GMP+ FSA certified. We remain the market leader in Feed Safety Assurance.

In close cooperation with the GMP+ committees, who represent the GMP+ Community, changes to the scheme have been prepared and implemented in the GMP+ standards.

Improvements to the scheme:

• We have worked on changes related to remote audits and audits at another location, providing flexibility for Certification Bodies and companies.

• We have worked on a new voluntary standard for companies worldwide to demonstrate commitment to antibiotic-free feed.

• We adjusted some gatekeeper protocols and introduced a new gatekeeper protocol for feed materials of mineral origin, enabling companies to source safe materials on occasions where there are insufficient GMP+ certified suppliers.

• We have published a clearer Aflatoxin monitoring protocol that is easier to understand without losing sight of the objective of feed safety for the products involved.

GMP+ FSA certified companies

19,696

19,839

GMP+ FSA certified companies as of December 31, 2024

500+ certificates

101 to 500 certificates

< 100 certificates

No certificates

92

Countries with GMP+ FSA certified companies 90

GMP+ Feed Responsibility Assurance (FRA) certified companies

As of December 2024, 1,335 companies in 27 countries worldwide were GMP+ FRA certified. That represents almost 30% growth in the past year.

In close cooperation with the GMP+ committees, who represent the GMP+ Community, changes to the scheme have been prepared and implemented in the GMP+ standards.

1,335

GMP+ FRA certified companies as of December 31, 2024 1,033

26

Countries with GMP+ FRA certified companies 19

50+ certificates < 50 certificates No certificates

Two new GMP+ FRA standards were launched in 2024:

• MI5.5 Carbon footprint for feed – A pilot standard on measuring Carbon Footprint

• MI5.6 Responsible feed - Sustainable Soy for companies supplying to the German market

GMP+ Academy

The GMP+ Academy is an online platform that gathers and shares knowledge about safe and sustainable feed for the entire feed community. We work closely with renowned training institutes and trainers who share our commitment to quality, safety and sustainability.

The GMP+ Academy continued to grow in 2024, with increased numbers of users, training modules on offer, and 3 new training provider partners. User satisfaction scores for both the platform and content exceed 80%, and the platform is being further optimised.

The Collective Knowledge Programme – comprised of feed experts from Trouw Nutrition, de Heus, AB Agri, Nutreco, and Nutrion Internacional –continued to contribute to the platform, and launched a new e-learning module about Supplier Assessment & Management.

‘I believe that knowledge is the most powerful tool we have. It is not useful if it is not shared. That is where the GMP+ Academy steps in, the platform has a unique role when it comes to knowledge sharing in our industry. Keep on delivering interesting & attractive courses to engage new generations in this important sector. Feel proud of it!’

SGS and GMP+ Academy Advisory Board Member

10,606

Visitors

880

New users

19,388

Sessions

15 Partners

50 New training modules added

‘We use the GMP+ Academy to train our staff all over the world.’

Maria Reyes Gutierrez Martin Quality and Feed Safety Manager, Nutrion, Spain

GMP+ Academy Partners

Europe Asia South America

Strategic partners

In 2024, GMP+ International continued to support, involve, and engage stakeholders through our partnership.

While our partnerships extend beyond the feed and food value chain, many of our international strategic partners are organisations and trade associations in the industry who support our vision, values, and ambitions.

Feed and Food Partners

Private Associations & Food Companies

Private Collectives

Feed Scheme Holders

GMP+ International strategic partner

Food Scheme Holders

Registered Consultants

Good Agriculture Practice Scheme Holders (GAP)

Food Safety and Responsibility Assurance Scheme Holders

The graph presents an overview of the structure of GMP+ International’s (strategic) partners.

Feed and Food Partners

Private Associations & Food Companies

Our feed and food partners help develop the GMP+ certification schemes and supporting services, so we maintain our market focus.

Private Collectives

We collaborate with our private collective partners to help optimise each other’s expertise and services so we remain efficient and effective for our stakeholders.

Feed Scheme Owners

G.A.P. Scheme Owners

We align with the requirements of Good Agricultural Practices (G.A.P.) schemes for livestock and aqua farming.

Food Safety and Responsibility Assurance Scheme Owners

We align with food industry schemes, as well as providing combined audits for food companies who also produce by-products for animal feed.

Mutual Recognition

GMP+ International works with other feed safety schemes on a safe and sustainable feed chain worldwide. This cooperation makes it possible for GMP+ certified companies to purchase products from equivalent certified companies.

In 2024 we mutually recognised 9 Feed Safety Assurance schemes across Europe, and 4 Feed Responsibility Assurance schemes around the world.

Feed Safety Assurance

Feed Responsibility Assurance

Certification Bodies

Certification Bodies (CBs), and their auditors, assess and certify companies to ensure they comply with the principles and requirements of GMP+’s standards.

385 Certification Bodies Accepted auditors

International Expert Committee (IEC)

GMP+ International seeks advice from the International Expert Committee and various subcommittees. They are made up of representatives from across the feed chain.

Task Forces

Our Task Forces bring business representatives, consultants, and certification bodies from a particular region together to give us an insight into region-specific challenges.

In 2024, 84 volunteers participated in 10 Task Force meetings in Italy, Poland, Brazil, Spain, and the Danube Region (Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia).

GMP+ Registered Consultants

Registered Consultants are independent companies recognised by GMP+ International. They advise companies about the implementation and maintenance of the requirements of the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme.

In 2024, 28 Registered Consultants were active around the world.

Gianni Baccarini

Explanatory note to our financial figures

Despite the financial challenges faced by GMP+ International in 2024 – as experienced by many – we succeeded in maintaining a healthy financial position throughout the year.

2024 marked a financial transition from previous years. Although we closed 2024 with a positive net result of €384k, the amortization of software development costs puts more pressure on our future investment capacity and liquidity. As a result, the underlying financial position is more nuanced than the net result might initially suggest.

To ensure long-term financial health, GMP+ International is embracing a more disciplined financial approach in the coming years. We have also developed a strategic growth plan that will be implemented over the next few years to further strengthen our financial position and support sustainable development.

Key figures

Balance sheet as per 31 December 2024

Profit and loss account over 2024

We enable every company in the feed chain to take responsibility for safe and sustainable feed.

GMP+ International

Braillelaan 9

2289 CL Rijswijk

The Netherlands

t. +31 (0)70 - 307 41 20 (Office)

+31 (0)70 - 307 41 44 (Help Desk)

e. info@gmpplus.org

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