When feed is more affordable

VFM: Could you please introduce yourself and your company?

PAC: My name is Paul Antoine Croise, and I serve as Business Area Director for Lallemand Animal Nutrition in Southeast Asia. Lallemand Animal Nutrition is a global leader in microbial solutions, utilizing yeast and bacteria to enhance animal nutrition, health, and well-being. We offer feed additive solutions, as well as farm management and environmental solutions, catering to various species including ruminants, swine, poultry, pets, and aquaculture.

VFM: The Vietnamese seafood market faced significant challenges in 2023. Could you elaborate on this and how your company navigated these difficulties?

PAC: Because obviously, in the aquaculture sector, we are here to support Vietnamese farmers to overcome the difficulties. These challenges are, at the same time, simple but challenging to deal with. The first difficulty arises from the fact that since the end of COVID, global consumption has not fully recovered, especially in China and the US. This, combined with the high availability and low production costs in Ecuador, creates a very challenging and unprofitable global market. Additionally, in Vietnam, high input material prices and prevalent diseases exacerbate the situation. Despite these challenges, there are ways to improve the situation, and Lallemand Animal Nutrition is a reliable solution provider for that.

When considering the high input material costs, it’s important to note that in Vietnam, most feed contains very high protein levels, often reaching 45% or even higher. However, a more realistic protein content of 38-40% may suffice. Excessive protein content in feed leads to inefficient digestion, increased disease susceptibility, and higher costs. With the health solutions offered by Lallemand Animal Nutrition, farmers can easily manage with feed containing 38-40% protein content, making it more affordable.

The second challenge revolves around water pollution and quality. Our bioremediation products effectively reduce ammonia levels in shrimp farming, thereby decreasing the occurrence of diseases and problems linked to water pollution, ultimately reducing costs.

The third challenge concerns antibiotic resistance, which can be addressed through better immune system development. Increased antibiotic usage leads to the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant diseases, making them harder to combat. With Lalpak Immune, we enhance the immune system of the shrimps, reducing the necessity for antibiotics. These three approaches—optimal feed formulation, water quality management, and immune system enhancement—contribute to better market access, lower production costs, and increased profitability for Vietnamese farmers.

General Director of Department of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan and the Organizer visit Lallemand’s
booth at VietShrimp 2024

VFM: So, we can understand that the cost of medicine, feed, and products is the biggest problem for shrimp farmers in Vietnam. I used to visit a lot of shrimp farms in the Mekong delta, and I see that old diseases persist while new diseases continue to emerge. What do you think about this?

PAC: Yes, indeed. When considering all the diseases, including the emergence of new ones, farmers need to have farm management solutions and biosecurity measures in place. There is no one-stop solution or single product that can entirely solve this problem. On the contrary, the use of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains, exacerbating the issue over time. Therefore, the solution lies in adopting effective farm management systems and practices, alongside a wide range of products that are not only more cost-effective than medication but also superior to chemicals in reducing disease occurrences. Even for diseases like PTD, where we cannot claim to have a definitive solution, our interventions have consistently decreased the probability of occurrence.

VFM: What solutions does your company offer for sustainable development in the aquaculture industry?

PAC: Yes, so all the solutions that I just mentioned are solutions that help in the development of sustainable shrimp farming because they help reduce the amount of feed needed, decrease the protein content in the feed, minimize rejection, improve water quality, and reduce the usage of antibiotics. This makes shrimp farming more sustainable both for the environment and for workers and consumers, creating a full circle of sustainability.

VFM: Could you introduce a new product or technology that your company has recently developed?

There are new products currently under development, but it’s a little bit early to mention them. This year, we are primarily introducing products that we launched a few years ago to Vietnam. These include Lasea Biorem, our water bioremediation solution, Lalpack Probio, which is our probiotic farm pack aimed at promoting good health in shrimp, and Lalpack Immune, which activates the immune system, resulting in better immune responses to challenges.

VFM: What do you elaborate about VietShrimp 2024?

PAC: So, first, it’s always important to have VietShrimp as a moment in the year to connect farmers with additives, feed, and all input material industries. This is very important. I like the fact that this year it’s in Cam Ranh, which is different from being in Khánh Hòa. Here, we are closer to the farms and in the heart of the Mekong Delta shrimp production region, which is very interesting and helps farmers come towards us. I think the idea is to continue having this yearly event and facilitating communication between farmers and input material producers.

I think it should continue being a yearly event because each year is different, and although we have forecasts for 2024, we are not very sure about the developments of 2024. This is a fast-moving industry, and we don’t have all the answers. So, we need to gather every year to increase the number of conferences and to facilitate the fact that farmers come to the event and meet the industry, or vice versa. This is very important.

Anh Thu