In the next instalment of our series featuring sustainability leaders at Kemin, we highlight Veerle Van Hoeck, Innovation Project Leader. With a background in veterinary science and a passion for sustainability, Veerle is driving innovation in animal feed additives. In this interview, she shares her journey from veterinary research to leading the development of products that enhance animal welfare and promote sustainability. Veerle offers insights into how her team integrates circular economy principles by repurposing by-products and how sustainability plays a critical role in Kemin’s innovation strategy, helping reduce waste and improve the environmental footprint of farming.
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“I’m Veerle Van Hoeck, Innovation Project Leader at Kemin, and my role revolves around developing feed additives that improve farming efficiency and drive sustainability and animal welfare. My journey into this field started with my background in veterinary sciences at the University of Ghent in Belgium, where I completed my master’s and later pursued a PhD in animal reproduction and nutrition. I then had the opportunity to do a postdoc at São Paulo University in Brazil, looking at how to make animal reproduction more effective and sustainable.
That’s when I really started focusing on finding solutions that could benefit both animals and the environment. I then found an opportunity to work at Kemin; what attracted me was the company’s focus on sustainability and vertical integration (with a fully equipped global Crop Science department), which involves controlling various stages of the supply chain to ensure eco-friendly practices throughout, reducing environmental impact and optimising resource use.
At Kemin, we’re constantly focused on enhancing the sustainability of our products. Many of our feed additives are designed to boost growth rates and improve feed intake efficiency, allowing farmers to produce the same amount of meat with fewer animals, significantly reducing environmental impact. However, sustainability for me isn’t just about efficiency — it’s also about ensuring animal welfare and health. That’s why we’ve been working hard to address both at Kemin, particularly by reducing animal stress and improving intestinal health through probiotics and other novel compounds.
By putting that in practice, the European innovation team is currently working at two innovative solutions that focus on both the reduction of systemic stress in the animal and also heat stress. Heat stress is a huge problem these days not only compromising animal growth, but also impacting drastically on animal welfare.
Our innovation team is involved in various initiatives to revalorize by-products that don’t seem to have value for human-kind. One example of this sustainable approach is working with a beverage company to repurpose their by-products into our feed additives. We’re recovering bio-active products from spent yeast, which would otherwise be waste, and turning it into something valuable.
I’m especially passionate about how we’re incorporating side-stream products into our solutions. It’s incredibly rewarding to reduce waste while also improving animal welfare. I love that we can look at materials, like shrimp material left-over, that would normally be discarded and find ways to repurpose them into functional feed additives. This approach to vertical integration excites me because it not only enhances animal growth and welfare but also reduces our environmental impact by maximising the use of every part of the production process. The fact that Kemin also has crop science facilities is very appealing to explore more phytoactive compounds that can make the difference in the field.
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In addition, our millSMARTTM programme is another example of how we’re reducing feed spillage. Feed can degrade due to bacteria, mould, or other factors, and millSMART helps preserve the quality of the feed so it doesn’t go to waste. This ties back into sustainability because we’re making sure that everything we produce for the animals is actually used by the animals rather than being thrown away.
I’m also particularly excited about Kemin’s enzyme solutions, which are true game-changers in animal nutrition. Xylanase (XygestTM HT) and other enzymes help animals break down typically difficult or impossible-to-digest compounds, transforming previously unusable feedstocks into valuable nutrients. Even more, Kemin will come up with a STIMBIOTIC compound (giving a kick-start to the animals microbiome and health) by combining our own xylanase with a completely novel compound that is vertically integrated within Kemin. This innovation highlights our commitment to the circular economy, ensuring every resource is utilised to its fullest potential.
Kemin is also very committed to understand what the impact of the production of our products is. Hereto, an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) is being prepared for all products we have in our portfolio. For example, LYSOFORTE® is one of our innovations solutions for which we have fully completed the LCA exercise. Knowing that the production of LYSOFORTE has a certain impact on the environment but considering that by adding the latter product to the feed, you can have a super powerful nutrient absorption enhancer in the animals, makes it all very impactful and objectively measurable.
I see precision farming as the future of our industry. Currently, we feed animals as a flock, giving each animal the same amount of feed. However, if we could tailor feed to each animal’s specific needs, it would greatly benefit both the animals and the environment; there will be less emission of pollutant gasses and nitrogen will be used more efficiently. With sensors and new technologies, we can now monitor individual nutritional requirements and customise their feed accordingly, improving efficiency and reducing nitrogen emissions. At Kemin, we’re actively exploring this approach, developing products like amino acids, enzymes and trace minerals to be able to finetune the need of each and every single animal at the individual level.
One of the things I love most about working at Kemin is our global collaboration. While our European innovation team is part of a larger network of around 200 people across various business units, this global reach allows us to work on projects with a broader impact. For example, we’re developing xylanase enzymes to improve nutrient digestibility, and by collaborating globally, we can drive greater progress in both animal performance and sustainability. This collective effort amplifies the positive impact we can make.
I appreciate that sustainability is at the core of everything we do at Kemin. Whether we’re repurposing by-products, reducing animal stress, or advancing precision farming, our focus is always on creating products that benefit both animals and the environment.
What motivates me each day is knowing that we’re making a tangible difference in the field. We’re helping farmers raise their animals more efficiently while also improving animal welfare and reducing the environmental impact of farming.
Being part of the ONE KEMIN FAMILY means constantly pushing boundaries, innovating, and working together to create a positive impact for animals, farmers, and the planet — and that’s what makes my job so fulfilling.”
