In this edition of our Sustainability Spotlight series, we feature João Marcelo de Castro Gomes, President of Kemin Animal Nutrition & Health in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. With over 25 years of experience and a background in veterinary science, João discusses Kemin’s phased targets for 2030 and beyond, highlighting innovation, life cycle assessments (LCAs), and effective communication of sustainability goals. He tells us about Kemin’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, improve feed efficiency, and advance sustainable products across the EMENA region.
“I was born on a farm in Brazil, where my father and grandfather were dairy farmers. After studying veterinary science, I worked as a vet for three years with dairy farmers. In 1997 I joined Bayer, building my sales and business development career, primarily in animal health and nutrition. In 2019, I became President of Kemin AgriFoods South America, managing the region and developing go-to-market strategies. After three and a half years, I moved to Italy in 2022 to revitalise Kemin's food business, focusing on strategy, M&A, and sustainability. More recently, in January this year, I became President of Kemin Animal Nutrition & Health, EMENA, leading the business across Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and North Africa.
As President of Kemin Animal Nutrition & Health, I work closely with the leadership team across sales, marketing, HR, operations, and finance to drive strategy and business development. I focus on five key areas: people, go-to-market strategy, sustainability, operations, and innovation. I prioritise people development and setting clear strategic directions. Moreover, a large part of my week involves strategic discussions to keep us on track while addressing problems as they arise. I thoroughly enjoy empowering my team, staying connected with customers, and travelling with my sales team — it gives me much energy.
Because I was born in Brazil and have worked in different countries, I understand the varying levels of sustainability maturity worldwide. Today, the focus is often on the environment, while social and governance aspects are sometimes overlooked. In the past, governance and social matters were once more prominent.
I believe the key challenge in sustainability is balancing these areas and not giving one more attention than the others — they are all equally important. It’s not just about the environment; social and governance factors are equally crucial. At Kemin, we need to innovate to reduce emissions while ensuring our solutions remain financially viable for our customers, especially in regions with varying levels of sustainability maturity, which differs across Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and North Africa.
The journey toward achieving net zero by 2050 is a long process, and we must start executing meaningful actions that contribute to the environment. People — and all of our stakeholders — play a central role in ensuring we reach our sustainability goals.
When I visit customers outside of Europe, they’re often very interested in sustainability, but ultimately, they ask, 'How can I sell this? How can I convince my end customers?' This is a natural challenge we have as a company. In addition, the main challenge of my role is to build a strategy and inspire our team with a solid sustainability plan. Communication and conviction are crucial in the process. Everyone needs to be on the same page and get on board with us.
Moreover, I believe that hiring the right people is key to achieving our goals. Two years ago, we brought on a dedicated director of sustainability to lead our efforts, and we’ve recently hired two new employees for the sustainability team. With this leadership in place, our European team is now working closely with consumer companies to build accurate reports and ensure full alignment with CSRD requirements. Thanks to this strategic hiring, we've made significant progress in setting targets and collecting the necessary data.
The second challenge is how we communicate our sustainability efforts to the market. We train our teams to explain these efforts and benefits to customers. For instance, Kemin is one of the first companies in the additives sector to complete life cycle assessments (LCA) for 50 of our products. As you can imagine, this is quite a feat, and we’ve been working hard to achieve this, so naturally, we are pleased to share this information with our customers. These are metrics from which we can all act to reduce our impact. In fact, we are committed to completing LCAs for all products by the end of 2025, with another 20 expected to be finalised this year.
Additionally, we’re constantly improving our internal and external communication to advance how we communicate our sustainability efforts. We’ve been putting much effort into this, and it’s starting to pay off.
At Kemin, we are committed to achieving net zero by 2050. We've broken this down into realistic targets for 2030, 2040, 2045, and 2050, focusing first on reducing carbon equivalents per kilogram of product and addressing scope 1 and 2 emissions over the next five years. Looking forward, I believe the conversation will shift towards scopes 3 and 4, as most companies will have already made significant progress on scopes 1 and 2.
We've categorised innovation into two areas where we know we can have a positive, sustainable impact: large-scale innovations with global impact and smaller adjustments that enhance our existing products, such as reducing water usage during production.
Another key area of focus is reducing employee travel, which may seem like a small individual action but can have a significant impact collectively. Moving forward, our emphasis will shift toward developing products designed with sustainability at their core from the beginning.
Reflecting on sustainability, I see it as similar to safety. A company can implement strong strategies, provide training, and offer the right tools, but individual responsibility remains essential. Just as people must make safe choices, they must also make sustainable ones. While the company can set policies and offer resources, personal actions — like properly disposing of waste — are crucial for real progress.
Education plays a significant role in shaping attitudes towards sustainability. The maturity of sustainability practices varies by region, but in my experience, individual contributions and education will accelerate change. If we look back over the years, sustainability has evolved from a minor topic to a major focus, and its importance will only continue to grow as we approach 2030. It's a journey, and we all have lessons to learn along the way.”
