Bioiberica to supply nucleotides for Spanish animal nutrition market

30 Jul 2020 --- The animal nutrition sector is seeing a range of expansion developments. Distrivet will exclusively distribute Bioiberica’s Nucleoforce range in Spain to develop the market for yeast-based nucleotides for animal nutrition. These are touted as strengthening the immune and digestive systems in young animals during their rapid maturation life stages. Meanwhile, the growth of the animal nutrition sector has led Nestlé Purina and US personalized dog food brand Hungry Bark to invest millions in their respective segments.

“From being completely unknown some years ago, nucleotides are now acknowledged as an efficient functional ingredients and awareness is rising – but there is still a lot to do,” Xavier Córdoba, Bioiberica Animal Nutrition Director, tells NutritionInsight.  “For example, their application in aquaculture is quite common, and the benefits in fish and shrimp are well understood. For land animals, despite all the evidence supporting the use of nucleotides, its application is not very widespread, although it is growing year-on-year.”

Nucleotides, as elemental biomolecules of DNA and RNA, are involved in biochemical and cellular processes where there is a high rate of multiplication of genetic material, protein synthesis, cell replication and tissue maturation. This mainly affects animals at a young age and in those with immune system-related challenges. Moreover, Nucleoforce does not affect humans consuming meat from animals supplemented with nucleotides. “In fact, nucleotides are already widely used in both human nutrition and the human food industry, as well as pharmaceuticals (e.g. infant formulas, nutraceuticals, and food supplements). Nucleotides, once taken by live organisms, are integrated into the mechanisms of cells, in the form of DNA and RNA, promoting the development of tissues, systems and health,” Córdoba explains.

Nucleoflorce Livestock helps to prevent diarrhea and pathogen outbreaks in young monogastric animals.Nucleoforce – Aqua, Dogs and Livestock – is a range of balanced concentrates of free nucleotides and active precursors, obtained from yeast extracts. Nucleoforce Livestock helps to prevent diarrhea and pathogen outbreaks in young monogastric animals – notably poultry and pigs – during the rapid maturation phase of the immune and intestinal system. It may also reduce the use of antibiotics in animal production because of their immunomodulatory capacity.

Meanwhile, Nucleoforce Aqua minimizes the intestinal inflammatory response in diets rich in raw vegetable materials, helping to strengthen digestibility and thus improve fish and crustaceans’ intestinal health. For puppies and adult canines, Nucleoforce Dogs reinforces the immune system in clinically healthy dogs infected with Leishmania infantum as well as for immunocompromised or recovering animals after chemotherapy treatment.

Investments in animal nutrition
In other animal nutrition developments, Nestlé Purina expanded its operations to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, US, in a three-year US$167 million investment move, adding new processing and packaging lines to its Mechanicsburg fac location.

Purina has committed to investing more than US$167 million into the project within the next three years. Purina, which currently employs 320 people in Mechanicsburg, US, also has pet food operations in Allentown and employs nearly 800 people in total in Pennsylvania, US.

“Purina is proud to make high-quality foods for dogs and cats at our Mechanicsburg factory with a continued commitment to safety and environmental sustainability. This expansion reflects an investment in our local operations, and we look forward to continuing to deliver innovative and highly nutritious foods for pets,” says John Bear, Vice President of Manufacturing, Purina. 

In similar ambitions, Hungry Barkclosed US$2.1 million in non-institutional funding for product development and marketing. The company’s founders initially raised a seed round that took the brand through a soft launch and allowed for the testing, launching and tweaking of its dog food products. Since launching the super-premium dog food brand in March, Hungry Bark has experienced “incredible growth,” says Founder and CEO Nick Molina.

Edited by Anni Schleicher