For the third consecutive year, Olmix Group hosted the Olmix International Seminar on Health and Nutrition in Asia. This year’s edition took place in Guangzhou, China, city that welcomed more than 120 attendees from 12 different countries who gathered at the Sheraton Grand Guangzhou Huadu Resort for two days of high-level technical conferences and workshops.
Following the philosophy of Olmix, the event was mainly focused on the risk of the overuse of antibiotics in animal production and how marine algae technology and its unique active molecules, the sulfated polysaccharides, can help us to raise animals without antibiotics and chemical additives.
Thursday, 27th April: plenary session
Secondly, Mr Michel Guillaume, Olmix’s Technical Director, took the lead and shared with the audience an interesting presentation about antibiotics in animal production. Mr Guillaume pointed out the high risk associated with an overuse of antibiotics and got into detail by giving the key points of this critical situation in Asia:
“There are several examples of bacterial resistance to antibiotics in Asia. Streptococcus suis is one of the most important causes of bacterial mortality in piglets and Streptococcus suis type 2 is an emerging human pathogen in Southeast Asia. In 2005, a total of 215 cases of human Streptococcus suis infections (38 deaths) were reported in Sichuan, China. All infections occurred in backyard farmers who were directly exposed to infection during the slaughtering process of pigs that had died of unknown causes, he explained.
Speaker Mr Michel Guillaume, Olmix's Technical Director.
Speaker Mr Michel Guillaume, Olmix's Technical Director.
The potential of algae
After that, the conference session took a 180-degree turn. As it could not be otherwise, the last two presentations shed light on the incredible potential of algae and their specific extracts, the algal-sulphated polysaccharides.
Friday, 28th April: the results of the Olmix’s antibiotic-free programme
After discussing the alternatives to the use of antibiotics in animal production, the plenary sessions could not close without showing some real results on the matter. Mr Olivier Biannic, Olmix’s Antibiotic-free Production Manager, took the chance to present the latest results of the Olmix’s antibiotic-free programme.
“Saga program - a comprehensive program that use the synergetic properties of Olmix range of products and different MSP®, confirmed the possibility to raise 94% of piglets without antibiotics and allows to produce up to 93% of poultry flocks antibiotic-free still increasing the performances”. Mr Biannic’s message was clear:
- Antibiotic-free demand is now coming from the market and the market is ready to pay between 15 and 20% more than conventional.
- Olmix is able to help and bring the support to produce antibiotic-free alternatives thanks to algae.
- Algotherapy and algae benefits are also a very good and positive approach that will give an added value to the meat, milk and eggs.
To close the plenary session, Mr Quang Thanh Trinh, Olmix Asia Pacific Manager, went on stage to share with the attendees the Olmix Group’s internal and external strategy that make the company able to provide innovative and natural solutions and meet the needs of its customers and partners worldwide.
“Olmix Group provides innovative solutions to customers all around the world. We talk about 4 pillars: innovation through global resources, innovation through R&D, innovation through industry and innovation through marketing. What makes us unique is our integrated sourcing, our algae biorefinery, our worldwide industrial capacity, our advanced technologies and, of course, our antibiotic-free programme. Thanks to our complete portfolio and efficient products we are able to meet the clients’ needs and expectations”.
Speakers Mr Olivier Biannic (left) and Mr Quang Thanh Trinh (right).
Workshops: poultry, swine and aquaculture
Besides the plenary sessions, several workshops took place during the two days of the event in order to address the main challenges in poultry, swine and aquaculture production.
The poultry workshop focused on the main issues concerning the poultry sector nowadays, such as mycotoxin management, vaccination practices or feed digestibility, among others.
On the other hand, the swine workshop came up with some of the latest updates of this industry in the world but particularly in China. ‘Disease Challenges in Swine in Asia’, ‘Management of Biosecurity and Bioexclusion in Large Pig Units’ and ‘Raw Materials and By-products: Latest Trends for Optimal Performance’ were some of the presentations.
Finally, the aquaculture workshop pointed out some of the current trends of the field. Conferences such us Alternative Sustainable Way of Farming: Polyculture, Fish Meal Replacement, Benefits and Limitations or Improvement of Digestibility of Aqua Feeds were delivered by the Olmix Aqua Care Team.
Workshops at the Olmix International Seminar.
