Zachary Cartwright, Host:
I'm Zachary Cartwright. This is Water In Food.

Prince Nanda:
Water dictates the microbiological and chemical stability of feed. Quality control and quality assurances can vary with geographies. There is a trend now that the water activity is being measured, and that is also used to make the decisions for shelf life. It has implications on brand. So people are taking it seriously.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
Today, I'm joined by Prince Nanda, who is the global program manager at Trouw Nutrition. As the animal health division of Nutreco, Trouw Nutrition is a global leader in innovative animal feed specialties, premixes, and nutritional services in the animal nutrition industry. Trouw Nutrition is known for providing species-specific nutritional solutions. And Prince is here today to discuss why water is important in the animal feed industry. Hey Prince, welcome to the show.

Prince Nanda:
Thanks Zachary. Happy to be here.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And Prince. Where are you joining us from today?

Prince Nanda:
I'm based in the Netherlands and that's where I'm joining from.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And you recently invited me to speak during one of your mini-courses on feed processing, quality, and shelf-life management. I really appreciate you returning the favor and joining Water and Food. Maybe you can talk a little bit about that webinar and what your goal was for it.

Prince Nanda:
Yeah, sure. I think now a couple of months, all ready, since we did that mini-course. So in our industry, we do a lot of these webinars to educate our customers, but also to share different kinds of content. This was a little bit different where we did a series of two webinars, also inviting different players. And you were one of the guest speakers. We had more than 3,000 registrations. That was sort of even overwhelming sometimes, with participations from close to a hundred countries. And that went on well. The overall objective was focusing on feed safety, but more specifically on shelf life and moisture management. So in one of the sessions, we talk about water activity also, and I believe we'll also be talking a little bit more in this podcast as well.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
Yeah, we'll get into those things a little bit more in just a little bit. And I was wondering what your title is. So you're a global program manager. What does your job entail? What does that role mean?

Prince Nanda:
Yeah, yeah. Before going into that, program management, I see, that's not a usual title. But what we say or describe program management as sort of a bridge between the operating companies, which we have around the world, which are closer to our customers, and our technology center research and development centers around the world.

Prince Nanda:
So I sort of act as a bridge between customer needs and our solutions. And more specifically, I'm part of feed safety team based here in The Netherlands. And we are very much focused on moisture management, shelf-life management, and salmonella control for all kinds of species, be it poultry, swine, ruminants, aqua, and even pet food. So, yeah, that's a little bit of background about my position.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And how did you end up at Trouw Nutrition? What's your background, and what makes you excited about coming to your job?

Prince Nanda:
Oh yeah. Multiple things, actually. The first and foremost thing, which I was really interested, which really intrigued me, was the purpose of this company, which is feeding the future. And this really acts as a guiding principle for everything that we do at this company. So how can we feed 10 billion people in 2050? That's everything we care about. All of our strategies are based on this particular purpose. So that really intrigued me. And I still feel motivated by this.

Prince Nanda:
The other part was since we are headquartered in The Netherlands, which has always been world-renowned for sustainable agriculture. And even now this part of the world is front runner in green technologies. So that was the other part of it.

Prince Nanda:
And third is more personal, I think, which is my particular job, I really like crossing between different things. For example, in my particular job, I deal with blends. So I have to learn a little bit about chemistry. And there is a preservation of feed. So there is feed technology involved. And of course, then there is a microbiology part because of the shelf life, mold, salmonella. And then, in the end, it ends up with the health and nutrition of the animals, but sometimes even extends to humans. So that really fascinates me. And these were the reasons I really joined this particular company and still going strong.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And what brought you to Trouw Nutrition? Did you go to school and study animal feed, or how did you get interested in this specific field?

Prince Nanda:
Yeah, I'm a veterinarian by education. So I studied veterinary sciences back in India. And to be honest, I was not a very good traditional vet, so to say. So I was more interested in the economic side of things, and that's why I ended up doing a degree in business management after my veterinary sciences. And then as it turns out then, I was in the corporate sector where I was always mixing the economics of different businesses with the economics of our farmers. And I have always been into feed safety more or less. So that's how I ended up in this element. The other part of my personality is I'm interested in technology. And feed processing and technology, that part really fascinates me. And that's why I'm interested in this.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And what are the things that Trouw Nutrition is doing that make it a leader in this field?

Prince Nanda:
To sum it up, I think, to have a holistic view. When I started saying we're feeding the future, it's a difficult challenge, which includes different things, supply chains, farmers, climate. So there are a lot of things involved in feeding the future.

Prince Nanda:
In order to do that, a lot of organizations are working towards that goal, but we really need to have a holistic vision, which includes multiple directions. And that's what I think Trouw Nutrition is a little bit uniquely positioned there to have that willingness and resources to have that holistic point of view. Just to mention, at Trouw Nutrition, nearly invest like 20 million euros in research and development each year, and also doing a lot of validation trials in different parts of the world.

Prince Nanda:
So I think that makes Trouw Nutrition unique. For example, we recently concluded, I think, yesterday we concluded AgriVision 2021, which is one of a kind event. It's a mega event, which is organized by Trouw Nutrition, but we invite different leaders of different companies to share their vision on agriculture in the coming years. How can we make this value chain from feed to forecast, we say, more sustainable? That was a very interesting event, which we just concluded. So all these things I think make Trouw Nutrition an exciting place to work.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And on this journey from feed to fork, what is the role of water, and why is water important to the animal feed industry?

Prince Nanda:
That's a good question. Water is of course a nutrient. And it is many times treated as a nutrient but is often also ignored and diet formulations. So from the nutrient perspective, it's of course very important, but there are specific things that come to my mind when we have to describe the importance of water. That is the nutrient concentration. So water directly has an impact on the nutrient concentration of other ingredients. So it can on its own, make the feed more nutrient-dense or less nutrient-dense. So that's, I think the number one point for productivity perspective.

Prince Nanda:
But also, water dictates the microbiological and chemical stability of feed, and other raw materials also. And that's very important because this feed is transported to different parts of the world. So it should be really microbiologically and chemically stable to the extent that it is formulated. The animals should get the same nutrition.

Prince Nanda:
And this is then linked, of course, in today's connected world, to the brand presence, because we have bigger corporates around the world, and anything, whether it is small contamination or salmonella, which is a big issue around the world, it has implications on brands. So people are taking it seriously as well.

Prince Nanda:
Then lesser talked about issue related to water as feed processing, that it has an impact on feed processing. Now, whether that is starch gelatinization or even the throughput and the energy consumption of the pelletizer, which is used in many feed mills. To the final pellet, like how the look and feel of those pellets, the durability of that pellet. So these are the aspects, I think, which moisture has a role to play, multiple angles again.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And just to sum it up. So the top three are the nutrient density, the effects on microbial spoilage, as well as just the effects on processing. And you said that a lot of companies maybe don't keep that in mind. And because of all of these effects, how is water measured in your industry? Is it primarily focused on moisture content? And if so, what are the methods that are used to measure moisture content?

Prince Nanda:
Moisture is measured in industry. And it depends on which part of the world we are in and what is the level of a particular feed mill because the quality control and quality assurances can vary with geographies. But in general, moisture is measured, I think, throughout the world. It depends on where we measure it. At least it is measured at the end of the production chain, that is before bagging or during bagging, as they say. But more mature feed mills measure it during the entire processing. So they start with raw materials, important, crucial, raw materials, and then during the processing, that means before a heating step. So usually there is a heating step producing feed. And then after the heating step, and then after drying or cooling, these are the places where usually moisture is measured.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And how is it being measured, Prince? What methods are being used?

Prince Nanda:
So again, there are multiple methods that are used depending on the need, but usually, we see there are some primary methods. The primary method in the case of feed mills is usually some sort of lots of drying, usually the oven method. And that's what we see. But as we know, the oven method takes a lot of time. So many people tend to use halogen or infrared analyzers as well.

Prince Nanda:
But more and more now, more than feed mills have shifted towards NIR, which is a secondary method, but also works very well, especially in a production setting when you have to measure it very quickly. So that's the trend we see, more and more bigger feed mills are using NIR.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And besides NIR and drying and halogen bulbs, do you see any companies starting to use water activity to make measurements and relate that back to microbial safety and processing, and the other things that you mentioned before?

Prince Nanda:
Certainly. What we see in the extruded feed water activity was measured for quite some time now. So think of aquafeed and pet food, people are more aware, and the industry is measuring that water activity for quite some time now. But even within the Agri Feed, with the other annual feed, there is a trend now that the water activity is being measured. And that is also used to make the decisions for shelf life. For example, we made sort of a model in Latin America for one of our customers based on their corn. And we measured the water activity of their different corn samples and then tried to predict the shelf life of that corn in their silos. So indeed now people are moving and using water activity for shelf life as well.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And why are more and more companies starting to use water activity? Or do you see a trend of other companies using this measurement primarily for shelf life and safety? Or what is the driving force behind using water activity?

Prince Nanda:
One of the driving forces for this is because sometimes water activity is even easier to measure than moisture. And it says a lot about the microbial and chemical medical stability of the feed. So I think these are the factors why people consider water activity. And moreover, we know sometimes using only moisture to guide your decisions on shelf life and to packaging and other microbial factors can be misleading. So it's important. And that's how we educate our customers also on that water activity is more reliable than moisture to make the decisions on shelf life.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And if you're not using water activity to make predictions about shelf life, what does a general shelf life study look like for animal feed, and how long can that take?

Prince Nanda:
So there is no standard method. At least I'm not aware that there is a standard method to measure the shelf life within feed. But at Trouw Nutrition, what we have developed internally is to develop the shelf life, to try to predict the shelf life in a stressed way. So we keep the feed under the stressed environment at a high temperature, elevated temperature, elevated humidity so that the molds and other spores or organisms have the chance to grow and they can grow quickly. And based on that, we predict the shelf life of the feed in the actual environment.

Prince Nanda:
This is a pretty good method to compare to treatments when we are testing something. Let's say a blend of organic acids, if we're testing it. And then we have a fair estimation that how this particular product will look like in actual conditions.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And I think you're right, Prince, there's no specific method. And I see this all the time in the food industry. There's no one method for shelf life, but it is very common to use some extreme conditions, and then monitor chemical or biological or physical changes that happen. But it can take a really long time months or maybe even years to look at shelf life. And I do think that is a huge advantage for your industry being able to use water activity in addition to a moisture absorption isotherm, and make some predictions about shelf life and what packaging that you should use, and so on.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
Do you guys work on these shelf-life challenges with other companies? Do you sit down with clients and help them to increase shelf life? Or what does that process look like, and how do you find clients to work with at Trouw Nutrition?

Prince Nanda:
Yeah, all the time, I think, especially in tropical countries, where there is longer supply chains. Usually, longer supply chains and relative humidity are also higher. Temperatures are also not favorable. Especially in that part of the world, what we see is there is always a need or a constant need to improve the shelf life.

Prince Nanda:
It comes in many ways, but one of the common ways is to increase the shelf life of the feed. So for example, as of now, that's three months, and then there is a need to increase it to six months. So maybe a customer wants to reach faraway markets that can be export market or something. So usually that's how we identify that need.

Prince Nanda:
What we currently do is that our current practices take the samples of that particular feed, and we test it in our lab for different microbiological parameters, sometimes even the antioxidant levels. And then we find a suitable product depending on their other needs, because they may have other needs than shelf life as well. And then we try to treat that particular product laboratory conditions, but we try to mimic practical conditions. And then see, can we extend the shelf life in accelerated conditions. And based on that we make an offer to them. So this is modus operandi, more or less, for shelf life.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And beyond shelf life, is there anything new that you're working on at Trouw Nutrition that you'd like to share with us, maybe a new technology or new solution, something that you're excited about that you can talk about on the podcast?

Prince Nanda:
Yes, certainly. Since we are talking about shelf life, I would like to talk about, we've discussed multiple methods to measure moisture management, let's say. One of the challenges with these methods is that they all are more or less very labor-intensive, and they all are reactive in nature. So there is some time gap between the decision-making and analysis.

Prince Nanda:
So what we are trying to do now with one of our offerings, we have a sensor inside the process, as we say, an inline sensor, which as of now, currently only measures the moisture. But we would love to extend the functionality at some point in time to water activity. But that measures the moisture inline and then corrects the moisture on a real-time basis. So that's something which we are offering to our customers as a part of our solution. That's related to shelf life, per se.

Prince Nanda:
But in general, Trouw Nutrition is active in multiple directions. We are fascinated about feeding the future as I mentioned earlier. Within that, we are working a lot at antibiotics reduction. That's one of the biggest challenges the world faces in relation to feeding the future.

Prince Nanda:
As I was reading the other day, the World Health Organization predicts that by 2050 more people will die of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection than of cancer. So that's really an important issue. And with our products and solution, we are trying to reduce that, how we can find the alternate of antibiotics. So that's something which comes to my mind.

Prince Nanda:
And also my colleagues in the feed safety team, they're working on circular agriculture. That means we are preserving food waste with different mega-corporations. We are working with them and preserving their food byproducts like we like to see them now. And preserve them and take them to the animals in a way that they're perfectly palatable to the animals.

Prince Nanda:
So these are the things which we are trying to find in the future, and currently working on them.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
And if any of these caught the attention of a listener, and they'd like to learn more about you or Trouw Nutrition, or maybe even apply to be on your team, where can they look? What's the best way to get ahold of you or your company?

Prince Nanda:
Yep. We recently redesigned our website. I think that would be the best source to start, which is called trouwutrition.com. Trouw as in T-R-O-U-W nutrition.com. And we are represented in more than a hundred countries in the world. So if you find a representative in your area, please reach out to him or her. That would be the best way.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
Well, thank you so much, Prince. I really appreciate your time. It's been really fun to be able to do some webinars with you and finally get you on the show. And I really look forward to working with you more in the future. So thanks again and enjoy the rest of your day.

Prince Nanda:
Thank you for having me, Zachary, indeed. I think this is a fascinating world and the kind of discussions this generates. And hopefully, we together have some contribution towards feeding the future.

Zachary Cartwright, Host:
I'm Zachary Cartwright. This is Water In Food. Find this podcast on Apple, iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.