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Vobra Special Petfoods ready for the future with BESTMIX pet food formulation

by Bea Van Deynse
18 Nov 2016

In addition to producing its own brands (CaroCroc, CASA-FERA, Impress Your Dog, SANIMED), Vobra Special Petfoods has also been producing high-quality pressed and extruded pet food for many Vobra BESTMIX pet food formulationsatisfied Private Label customers since 1932. Due to the various production processes that Vobra offers (from cold pressing and extrusion to adding fresh meat), it is always able to deliver tailor-made products. In addition to hundreds of recipes from its standard range, Vobra can also develop exclusive products. In the factory in Veghel, Vobra uses more than 150 unique types of raw materials, ranging from different meats and grain varieties to mashed potatoes, vegetables and fruit. It also offers very special ingredients like cranberry for antioxidant properties or extracts from the yucca plant for reducing the smell of the faeces.

The R&D team at Vobra, consisting of Marcel van den Oetelaar, Marielle Koks and Sanne van de Riet under the leadership of Prof Anton Beynen, are enthusiastic users of Adifo’s BESTMIX pet food formulation software.

BESTMIX pet food formulation

The team is responsible for the correct composition of existing and new feeds to be produced, for optimising the recipes and for sending those recipes to the factory. The team uses BESTMIX when formulating and optimising the feeds. “We have worked with BESTMIX for many years and find it a good and reliable programme,” says Marcel van den Oetelaar.

Lynn Verstrepen, pre-sales consultant at Adifo, says: “The feed formulation package BESTMIX has been used by the animal feed industry for more than 40 years. Adifo noticed that pet food has several specific needs. In some areas, the pet food industry is more like the foodstuffs industry than the animal feed industry. After thoroughly questioning several representatives at pet food companies, we decided to supplement our BESTMIX package with specific functionalities for the pet food industry so that they can respond to dietary trends quickly. We recently hosted a webinar on this topic.”Webinar Recording: How precise formulation and powerful quality control adds value to the pet food industry

Challenges

“It’s true that we at Vobra see challenges in the development of new products,” says Marielle Koks. “Trends that Vobra responds to include vegetarian and grain-free. The incorporation of as high a concentration of fresh meat as possible into a pellet is also a challenge. Alternative sources of protein, such as insects, are also being investigated at the moment.” Sanne van de Riet adds: “The compositions are ready, but we haven’t found a supplier that can provide us with enough raw materials all year round. We keep our finger on the pulse though and should insect proteins become available in sufficient quantities, we are ready to launch these recipes.”

Marcel van den Oetelaar says: “As a supplier, Vobra wants to follow such trends quickly. The feed formulating programme cannot be a restraining factor. That’s why good consultation with Adifo is so important. We usually come up with a feasible solution together, within the existing functionality. If that isn’t possible, we consult on a new development.”

New version of BESTMIX

“If an extra development is needed and several clients find it useful, this adjustment becomes part of the standard development of a future update of the software,” Lynn Verstrepen confirms. Our software continues to respond to current developments in the sector. For example, the next version of BESTMIX will take even more account of evaporation losses and rehydration. BESTMIX also allows the user to take FEDIAF requirements related to levels of raw materials and nutritional levels into account during formulation. A safety mechanism was also built in so nutritionists can prevent an unwanted raw material from entering the production composition. Such things are very important when it comes to labelling and quality assurance. After all, the feed must continue to satisfy the legislative food requirements even on the final best-before date.

More information about Vobra Special Petfoods: www.vobra.com