April 26, 2016

AB Vista: Showing the way to success

by Rick ALBERTO
 

In less than 12 years, AB Vista has catapulted itself into one of the top-three players in feed enzymes as well as one of the largest suppliers of yeast and natural betaine to the animal feed industry. This is no mean feat for a company established only in 2004.

Its secret may be in its sole focus on animal nutrition technology, developing pioneering and innovative products and offering unique technical services to the animal feed industry. Employing people who are experts in the field of animal nutrition, AB Vista gives importance to the fact that every part of the feed production process is performance-optimised, from purchase of raw materials to feed formulation, manufacturing, storage and distribution.

"Our technical services teams can help identify efficiency opportunities across those stages, using our feed quality, laboratory and engineering services", says Ari Kiviniemi, AB Vista's global sales director.

AB Vista's success can be gleaned from its exceptional growth rate in sales of over 30% per annum in the past decade. It has not just developed market-leading nutritional products but also supported these products with innovative advice and services.

Today, AB Vista is known in the industry to have introduced the concept of phytase superdosing to the global market. Kiviniemi says that close to 50% of the company's Quantum Blue phytase sales worldwide currently goes into superdosing applications. Quantum Blue is one of the two flagship enzyme products of AB Vista, along with Econase XT xylanase.

Quantum Blue superdosing to destroy dietary phytate has been demonstrated to also benefit various fish species, according to Kiviniemi, and "we are working with partners on this application".

This year, AB Vista hopes to bring additional insight to the market to help producers derive maximum value from phytase application.

For instance, according to Kiviniemi, new research has helped to explain where the benefits from superdosing phytase are coming from. "This increased understanding has led to superdosing being redefined as using enough of an appropriate phytase to prevent the build-up of lower phytate esters in the gut of the animal".

NIR4Farm

Recently AB Vista launched NIR4Farm, an innovative hand-held NIR (near infra-red) technology into the UK market for ruminant forage and ration analysis. This allows nutritionists to quickly and accurately determine forage quality and variability on-farm in real time, and to use this knowledge to immediately optimise rations. The company plans to introduce this technology to other major ruminant markets later this year.

NIR technology is not new, as it was introduced into agriculture around 40 years ago, but there have been recent changes in NIR hardware and software, opening up new opportunities. For example, according to Kiviniemi, NIR units, through the internet, can access the latest updated calibrations on a pay-per-use basis, without the need to develop, purchase or update these calibrations.

Also, new calibrations have been developed, especially taking into account such decision-critical parameters as cereal energy value, digestible amino acids and reactive lysine.

The development of hand-held NIR units has likewise allowed analysis to move from the laboratory to the farm and into the feed mill. "Feedstuff and feed analysis has moved into the 21st century, and AB Vista is pleased to be able to offer the latest developments in this technology to customers", says Kiviniemi.

Heavy on R&D

Right now, AB Vista continues to build its Vistacell live yeast brand worldwide, targeting primarily the ruminant market, and to introduce its forage pre-treatment product, VistaPre-T. Vistacell, when added to the ration, can help increase rumen pH, which maintains a healthy rumen. VistaPre-T, which comes in liquid form, enables pre-digestion of forage material before consumption, and is reported to increase milk yield and meat production.

Needless to say, AB Vista continues to invest heavily in R&D to be able to build its portfolio of products and services spanning the poultry, swine, ruminant and aquaculture sectors.

While AB Vista pioneers new scientific approaches to facilitate ever-greater nutrient release from animal foodstuffs, it is aware that its research partners have different, and, in some cases unique, capabilities. "Collaborating with them ensures we have access to local knowledge and insights from inside and outside the feed industry", says Kiviniemi.

In addition, Kiviniemi continues, "this helps to propel research at speeds we couldn't achieve working in isolation, and we also get to be active in the areas where our partners are without needing to be there ourselves. Animal production systems and feed formulations vary widely from country to country, so it's imperative that we understand how these variations might impact the response to our products".

Not only does AB Vista collaborate with its research partners, it also works with its customers, always with a view to identifying new and exciting opportunities for improved feed and animal performance. "We have a strong focus on scientific integrity and open, collaborative relationships with customers and research partners", Kiviniemi stresses.

Corporate responsibility

As part of its corporate and social responsibility, AB Vista also encourages its offices to develop ties with local schools and colleges to help promote agriculture as a career option, while at the same time getting more involved with the community.

Its Marlborough office in Britain, for example, has teamed up with local secondary school St. Johns, and is involved in their career fairs, mock interviews, career talks and annual Science Week. Its office in Janesville, USA also supported and coached a local team in the First Lego League, introducing children aged from 9 to 14 to the fun of science and technology. 

AB Vista also recognises the importance of safeguarding the natural resources needed for food production. Running a successful and expanding laboratory usually generates a growing amount of waste, as it has found in its Enzyme Services & Consultancy (ESC) lab in Wales. It said that the lab was able to reverse this trend by implementing a number of recycling initiatives which now sees plastic labware and feed samples recycled along with the standard paper, glass and cans. It now recycles over 40% of its waste, including the plastic gloves the researchers use, and has plans to increase this.

Unchanging focus 

Is AB Vista looking at other directions other than feeds? Kiviniemi responds with an emphatic no. "AB Vista's success has been built on bringing innovative animal nutrition technology to enhance the profitability of our customers; we will continue with that focus".

Over the next few years, he says, the industry can expect AB Vista to continue providing new and innovative technical applications within its core products areas: enzymes, live yeast and betaine.

As with phytase superdosing it introduced a few years ago, AB Vista expects its other innovations to change the way the industry functions.

It expects the industry to continue to enjoy the value of its products "supported by a range of new and unique services focused on adding value to our customer's businesses".

 

AB Vista has produced the "Extraordinary Science Brought to Life" video series, which features short technical presentations on a range of global animal science and nutrition topics. These videos highlight the latest research and scientific innovations that will hopefully help deliver better animal performance. The first two videos titled "Superdosing - where are the benefits coming from? Part one: Complete phytate destruction" and "Part two: Inositol release in the animal gut features" and all forthcoming videos can be viewed at www.abvista.com.