Seeking development in change and transformation is an inescapable topic for enterprises. From aquatic nutrition to animal nutrition, to biological nutrition, to focus on molecular biotechnology and synthetic biology, Enhalor follows the changes and needs of the industry and walks on the road of transformation.

Six years ago, Dr. Ren Zelin said, "Enterprises need to develop future products, be future customers, and find future talents." In the aquatic feed has become the stock market, the enterprise competition is increasingly intense today, what is his opinion? A few days ago, the agricultural and animal husbandry frontier interviewed Dr. Ren Zelin, president of Beijing Feed Industry Association and chairman of Beijing Enhalor Biotechnology Co., LTD.

Dr. Ren Zelin, President of Beijing Feed Industry Association and chairman of Beijing Enhalor Biotechnology Co., LTD

Transformational biotechnology enterprise, build "one body and two wings"

Agriculture and animal husbandry frontier: From the perspective of development, the company is already a biotechnology products as the core of the enterprise, why choose to transform?

Ren Zelin: With the improvement of large-scale farming, the scale of a single farm and the total production of aquaculture continue to expand, the right of discourse of the aquaculture end in the industrial chain has gradually increased, and many feed enterprises have become supporting workshops for aquaculture. This will inevitably lead to increased competition in the feed industry, and the result is a deep restructuring of resources, and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises without characteristics will be eliminated.

Enhalor Animal nutrition was born in the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, for Enhalor, it is very honorable to serve small and medium-sized enterprises, but to develop enterprises, we must have a forward consciousness. As our original service of small and medium-sized enterprises and retail investors continue to lose out, our service target has shifted to competitive large enterprises and large-scale farms, and the product mix has also adjusted. The company has been transformed into a biotechnology products as the core of the enterprise, focusing on the field of microecology and molecular biology to focus on animal nutrition and health products research and development and marketing.

Frontier of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: What is the current R&D system and product structure?

Ren Zelin: From aquatic nutrition to animal nutrition, to biological nutrition, and now molecular biotechnology, Enhalor has been actively embracing change, developing and building differentiated value products for future customers in the industry. In recent years, the company has restructured its research and development system to focus on synthetic biology, with the original nutrition team focused on applied research. The existing biomanufacturing department is mainly engaged in strain screening, genetic modification, and the development of probiotics and functional bioactive substances, such as yeast cultures, yeast peptides and surfactin, using biosynthetic technologies to improve animal health.

At present, the company has formed a "one body and two wings" product system (one is yeast products, two wings are yeast peptides and surfactin), with more than 20 research institutes and more than 30 top experts in the industry, cumulatively completed more than 100 reports on yeast cultures, yeast peptides and surfactin animal tests, and compiled them into test reports. To provide partners with perfect microecological solutions.

Experience: Focus, innovation, keep pace with The Times

Agriculture and animal Husbandry Frontier: How is the company's business situation since the transformation?

Ren Zelin: The company has established extensive cooperative relations with large agricultural and animal husbandry group enterprises at home and abroad, and its products are highly recognized by the industry. The company's business not only realizes the domestic layout, but also exports to more than 80 countries and regions in the world such as the European Union, North America, South America, East Asia, Southeast Asia. From January to May this year, the sales volume of the company's biotechnology products increased significantly, accounting for nearly 70% of the total business. Overall, the company has successfully achieved business transformation and track transformation through product innovation, which has also reached a new level of operating efficiency and profitability.

Agriculture and animal Husbandry Frontier: Can you share the experience of the company's transformation at that time, and what are your suggestions?

Ren Zelin: Every company has its unique advantages and challenges. Keeping pace with The Times in the process of development, and constantly adjusting the direction according to the changes in the internal and external environment and breeding structure is an eternal theme. As the main manager, I should have a clear understanding of the future, and exercise the ability and overall quality of the team to cope with risks and opportunities. If Enhalor was to focus solely on aquatic products, the team would surely shrink severely and the rest of the business would be in trouble. Some people say change means no change, and no change means change. As far as I am concerned, constant is death, because funds, resources, talents and personal abilities are limited, focusing on a specific area of innovation at one stage, and striving to adapt to changes is one of the keys to success in the competition. This is especially important for small businesses.

Frontier of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: We have noticed that Enhalor's overseas business has grown rapidly in recent years. Could you introduce our experience?

Ren Zelin: There are mainly the following points: First, the product should be clearly positioned, competitive, stable quality, in line with the local market demand. Second, enterprises should adhere to long-term doctrine and have extreme competitiveness, that is, they can stand firm in long-term competition and sustained losses. Third, enterprises should have brand awareness, build a strong promotion team, and build brand image and reflect brand value through continuous market operation. Fourth, employees should have strong personal professional ability, domestic and foreign market experience, and be fully familiar with the product. Fifth, we must insist on market maintenance and obtain the latest needs of customers. Finally, a significant investment in research and development is required to carry out applied pilot studies and publish literature, as overseas customers have a high level of trust in literature published in open journals/journals.

Soybean meal should be used in aquatic feed, decrement substitution is the general trend

Agriculture and animal husbandry frontier: In the past two years, the main problem facing the industry is the feed raw materials "stuck neck" problem, how do you analyze?

Ren Zelin: The problem of raw materials "stuck neck" is mainly because China's feeding raw materials are highly dependent on foreign countries. In 2022, China's total grain output will be 686 million tons, and grain imports will be 146.87 million tons. Feed consumption is about 380 million tons, accounting for about 48% of total food consumption. In the same year, China imported 91.081 million tons of soybeans, accounting for 62% of the total imported grain.

At present, the largest amount and most noteworthy is soybean meal. In recent years, our country has also taken a series of measures. In the case of the overall growth of China's livestock production, the feed soybean meal in 2022 will be reduced by 3.2 million tons year-on-year, and the proportion in feed will be reduced to 14.5%. At the 2023 academic annual meeting of the Aquatic Animal Nutrition and Feed Professional Committee of the Chinese Fisheries Society, Professor Ye Yuantu of Soochow University also proposed a technological change based on digestible protein in aquatic feed protein reduction. If the crude protein content of aquatic feed is reduced by 2%, about 9.03 million tons of soybean meal and 9.56 million tons of vegetable meal can be saved.

Agriculture and animal husbandry Frontier: Some operators seem to have some objections to low protein diets?

Ren Zelin: Scientifically, it is feasible for aquatic feed to achieve low protein diet. From a practical point of view, many feed enterprises and breeding enterprises at home and abroad are also doing very well. China's aquatic feed industry has previously used feed protein content as a marketing tool, so that farmers formed the concept of "the higher the protein content, the better the feed nutrition". It needs to be clear that if the pursuit of "fast and big" is too much, the physique and meat quality of the animal will be affected. In this case, reducing feeding, controlling breeding risks, and appropriately extending the growth cycle will lead to better animal health and lower breeding costs, which is a sustainable long-term road worth digging. Therefore, low protein diet technology and corn soybean meal reduction replacement technology are the trend of The Times and will be successful.

Frontiers in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: What are Enhalor's research and breakthroughs in soybean meal reduction substitution?

Ren Zelin: The company responded to the country's call for soybean meal reduction and replacement and developed related products. Among them, the culture of saccharomyces cerevisiae developed in cooperation with the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has a very high market competitiveness. In 2017, the yeast culture for aquatic products (Bioyeastar®) was launched, and related tests were carried out on some special culture varieties. For example, in an experiment on the effects of growth, feed utilization and stress resistance on juvenile large yellow croaker, the replacement of 5% fishmeal by protein content and 3% fishmeal by dry mass by Bioyeastar® significantly improved the growth, serum antioxidant capacity and skin yellow value of large yellow croaker.

Frontier of agriculture and animal husbandry: What problems do you think are worth digging in the industry now?

Ren Zelin: First of all, the key problem to be solved is how to reduce the amount of plant and animal protein raw materials in feed. Microbial protein feeds, algae and insect protein feeds are viable solutions. Another important issue is how to improve feed utilization and avoid excessive intake. Just focus on one or the other, it's an eternal topic.