Our feed ingredients help to improve productivity
by optimizing the intestinal environments of livestock.
Point
- Poor livestock growth due to diarrhea or loss of appetite is a serious issue for farmers.
- Science-based natural ingredients maintain animal health by creating a good intestinal environment.
- By reducing livestock sickness and mortality rates, we contribute to improved productivity.
Related SDGs
Key Person
Business Promotion Department
Functional Foods & Ingredients Team
She has loved animals since childhood and majored in animal nutrition in college. She then joined a wholesale company that sold medicines and food for pets as a fresh graduate, where she was in charge of sales to animal hospitals. After leaving the company, she went to Canada on a working holiday, which had been her dream since she was a student. In addition to studying language, she spent a year in the great outdoors while interacting with many wild animals. After returning to Japan, she joined Shima Trading Co., Ltd. in 2019, and she is leading the new challenge of "research and sales of feed ingredients in the livestock field" by making use of her knowledge that she has cultivated up to that point.
Our goal is to create ingredients that yield tangible results for farmers.
We use ingredients developed for human consumption to create products for use in livestock farming.
In the past, livestock farmers in Japan made heavy use of antibacterial agents and antibiotics to treat livestock diseases. However, in 2018, a partial ban was placed on the use of antibacterial agents because of their possible effects on human health. Realizing that farmers would need feed ingredients to replace antibacterial agents, I launched a project to discover our own ingredients.
My research led to the discovery of acacia gum, a product supplied by an overseas manufacturer. Used in gum coatings and other products, acacia gum is derived from the resin of African acacia trees. Wild animals in Africa lick this sap, which apparently maintains a healthy intestinal environment. A substance that maintains animal health and has no adverse effects on humans would clearly provide significant benefits. We immediately started negotiations with the manufacturer and began a research project about the product’s use for livestock.
We are working to realize our vision for the future of livestock farming.
Products for livestock were a new field for Shima Trading. We worked with several universities to gather test data and held numerous meetings to discuss the product. We also briefed livestock farmers and sought their cooperation in the testing process. After completing the regulatory requirements, including applications to government agencies to register the product, we were finally ready to start production and sales of a fiber gum livestock feed.
While sales are still small, we are confident that the use of fiber gum feed will become the norm one day, and we will continue to market the product tenaciously.
Key Point
Marketing a new feed ingredient to the livestock industry involves unique challenges and barriers. We have explored a variety of methods to build user knowledge about the benefits of this product, including exhibits at conferences and trade fairs, and the hosting of webinars. The important thing is to try all approaches without being confined by preconceived ideas. Of course there will be failures. Sometimes I visit customers to show them the product, only to leave after simply engaging in small talk. Despite these setbacks, I am still determined to create new foods that will result in better lives for people and animals, and I will continue to pursue this challenge.
