Farmers using co-products need to rely on the availability of these sustainable feed solutions to optimise rations. Food producers like meat and dairy companies, also need to rely on the availability of safe and high quality ingredients of animal and plant-based origin in the right quantity for them to secure their required production volumes. This is also required to comply with food safety regulations, mitigate risks and protecting their brand reputation.

Directing the transition towards a circular agri-food system, Duynie embedded safety and quality management in its organisation. As such it supports food processors and manufacturers in staying up to date with the complex and ever changing regulations on food and feed safety throughout Europe. Safe and sustainable production of meat and dairy can only be realised by organising quality management. This creates trust in co-products.

“We can do this, as we can get under the skin of our suppliers and customers”, says Derk van Manen, Manager Quality, Nutrition and Research. “We know what’s going on in their processes and we have the expertise to assess their compliance with regulations.” Such involvement in the integrity of products and processes also requires integrity as an advisor and service supplier. “You can secure this by signing NDA’s, but besides that it’s a matter of trust”.

Embedding quality and compliance in its organisation also helps Duynie to prevent crisis situations and mitigate the impact if a crisis occurs. “Late 2018 we saw batches of potatoes treated with Maleic Hydrazide (MH), a pesticide that wasn’t yet approved in all EU-member states”, Derk says. “Some EU member states planned to ban the use of MH treated potato products as animal feed. Duynie anticipated fast by convincing the governments of those member states to reverse this decision.” A case of effective mitigation happened more recently, in March 2021. “Corngold, a co-product of corn intended for feed, had too high levels of aflatoxin as a result of moulding”, Derk recalls. “Together with industry partners we proactively managed the crisis and minimised damage in the dairy chain.”