Thank you, Mr. Visser, for joining us for this special feature on young animal nutrition. As a global leader in specialty soy protein ingredients, Hamlet Protein plays a critical role in supporting animal health and performance from the very start of life. We’re eager to gain your insights on the company’s latest innovations, challenges, and outlook for the future.
Section 1: Company Focus & Mission
Can you briefly introduce Hamlet Protein and its mission in the global animal nutrition industry?
For more than 30 years Hamlet Protein has provided the animal feed industry with high quality specialty protein products that support young animal nutrition and health.
Our passion & our mission is to bring unique product and service solutions to our customers which optimise animal performance and address some of the key challenges faced in a rapidly changing industry.
What inspired your strong focus on the early stages of animal development, particularly in piglets and poultry?
We are very proud of our Danish heritage and close association with the pig sector in our home market. Over many years the importance of early life nutrition for all species has become well established in Denmark and around the world.
We strongly believe that ‘a great start makes all the difference’ especially in animal nutrition. The early days and weeks of a young animals’ life are a critical part of the overall production cycle.
Ensuring healthy animals in these early stages pays dividends for the producer in the long run as young pigs, chicks or calves are able to reach their genetic potential for growth more quickly; they are also at their most efficient at this time in terms of FCR. (feed conversion ratio).
The unique features of Hamlet Protein products mean we can bring significant benefits to our customers early nutrition programmes.
Section 2: Product Innovation & Science
What makes Hamlet Protein’s soy-based products unique compared to other protein sources for young animals?
We are a highly specialised company, and our patented enzymatic (bioconversion) process is unique, leading to a unique product. Our process is optimized to remove three anti-nutritional factors of soya that are harmful to young animals.
When other producers mostly focus on trypsin inhibitors (TIA), we have a holistic approach and not only reduce TIA to safe low levels, but also the indigestible oligosaccharides and the allergens. Our products therefore support both young animal growth and gut health. This explains the wide diversity of applications and high rate of satisfaction of our customers.
How does your research and development team approach the formulation of solutions tailored for the early life stages of livestock?
We never work alone! Talking with our customers and identifying market needs allow our team to explore new approaches and applications, such as super-prestarters in poultry or transition dry feeds in calves. We work with independent institutes on in vitro concepts (to simulate young animal digestion) and animal trials (demonstrating the benefit in early stages and the carry-over effect on the full production cycle).
Could you highlight any recent innovations or trials that have demonstrated measurable improvements in animal health or performance?
Hamlet Protein is historically known for young pig nutrition, but have expanded in to poultry and ruminants. Allow me to highlight our latest research in young ruminants here.
At the Smart Calf Rearing Conference (Madison USA, 25th of September 2025), our team will present a paper showing how much our flag ship product HP300 increases calves’ average daily gain, a crucial asset to reduce age at first calving and increase the revenue from dairy production.
We will also present at the EAAP (Austria, 28th of August 2025) where we will share the results of one of our latest trials, that showed extremely strong results: The replacement of dairy proteins in the CMR by our dedicated HP100 product yields in high performance, lower nitrogen excretion and of course reduced feeding costs.
These two research trials illustrate very well how growers can take advantage of our protein specialties to maximize young animal performance and/or secure lower feed costs.
Section 3: Nutrition Strategy for Young Animals
Why is early-life nutrition so critical to long-term animal health and productivity?
As we like to say, a good start makes all the difference!
Young animals double their initial weight quickly so an inadequate nutrition can permanently stunt development. Conversely, a proper early-life nutrition supports gut maturation, immune system development and growth. Investing in precise nutrition with quality ingredients pays off through healthier animals, improved performance and higher economic returns over the full production cycle.
What are the most common challenges farmers face in early-stage nutrition, and how does Hamlet Protein help address them?
A first group of challenges is related to health. Recently producers paid more attention to biosecurity and improved farm management. For the management of post-weaning diarrhoea, zinc oxide has long been used in piglet diets at therapeutical levels. In countries where it is banned or will be banned, producers are seeking alternatives. They generally include combinations of feed additives, and the use of highly digestible proteins such as Hamlet protein soy and fibre specialties such as Hamlet Protein Fiberboost.
A second group of challenges is related to the lack of availability of high quality and affordable ingredients. Some ingredients such as blood plasma or dairy products have excellent nutrient profiles but are expensive and not always available. HP300 has proven to be a great alternative, because unlike other soya proteins, its amino acids are digested and absorbed as quickly as animal products. We call it “Vegetable plasma”.
How do you balance growth performance and gut health in your nutrition strategies?
We have an integrated approach focussed on the specific needs of young animals.
First of all, our enzymatic process creates protein fractions that are easier for immature digestive systems to absorb. This supports rapid growth without overloading the hindgut with indigestible residues that could fuel harmful bacteria.
Second, by significantly reducing trypsin inhibitors and other anti-nutritional factors, Hamlet Protein minimizes gut inflammation. A healthier gut improves nutrient absorption and growth.
Interestingly, our products have a high digestible protein level, perfect for high performance diets. And as they are digested quickly, at the same time as the crystalline amino acids, they also are a solution of choice to design safe low protein diets.
Our team of nutritionists travels around the world constantly to work with local producers on tailoring our solutions to each nutritionist’s specific goal.
Section 4: Global and African Market Perspective
How important is the African market for Hamlet Protein, and how are you supporting local feed mills and producers?
The African market will be a key part of Hamlet Protein’s future business.
We fully recognise that the increasing demand for animal protein, driven by population growth and increasing consumer spending power, will bring an expansion in feed production and an increasing requirement for high quality feed ingredient solutions that offer efficiency and performance benefits.
We are already active and, together with our partners, working with feed and pre-mix producers and leading integrators to apply Hamlet Protein products in the field.
Have you observed any region-specific nutritional challenges in Africa that your solutions aim to solve?
While there are always regional differences in animal production systems and feed raw material availabilities, we find that Hamlet Protein products bring advantages in many different scenarios.
Soybean is widely used in the global feed industry and is a great source of protein but for young animals it also brings challenges in that it is often high in Anti-nutritional factors (ANFs). Other vegetable and animal proteins share various pros and cons.
Raw material variability is the daily challenge for animal nutritionists, but they can rely on Hamlet Protein products which are of consistent quality providing highly digestible, ‘fast’ protein with no ANFs.
Are you partnering with universities, research institutions, or local stakeholders in Africa to promote young animal health?
We have an extensive network of research institutes and universities which is expanding continually. As we develop our engagement in this region, we will look to forge strong partnerships with important and reputable institutions to compliment the trial work we already do with customers.
Section 5: Sustainability & the Future
How does Hamlet Protein ensure its production methods are sustainable and environmentally friendly?
Our bioconversion process uses natural enzymes rather than harsh chemicals or excessive heat. Since the beginning, we’ve focused on minimizing our environmental impact. Today the excess heat from our plant located in Denmark is redistributed as heating for more than 3,200 households.
We constantly work to optimize the carbon footprint from our own production and work closely together with business partners across the supply chain to drive sustainable practices.
What’s next for Hamlet Protein — any upcoming developments or projects you’d like to share with our readers?
We are working on the Life cycle Assessment (LCA) of our products and will be able to provide the carbon footprints with our stakeholders soon.
We are also engaged in the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI).
Finally, we are getting prepared for the upcoming European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) that will come into effect December 30, 2025. This new EU regulation aims at reducing global deforestation of rainforests and involves 100% traceability of all imported goods into the EU via geolocations to prove they are deforestation-free. We are working closely with our suppliers, both domestically and internationally, to comply with this regulation while continuing to deliver high quality products to our customers worldwide.
Closing
What is your message to African livestock producers and nutritionists who are looking to improve their approach to young animal nutrition?
One of our Company’s Core Values is ‘Value through Knowledge’. We always relish the opportunity to meet with customers and stakeholders to learn more about their challenges and opportunities but also to share the knowledge and experience gained over the past 3+ decades. Our Team is always ready to help and support and be part of our customers story.
Thank you for your time and insights, Mr. Visser. We look forward to sharing this with our readers across Africa and beyond.
Erik Visser has been the CEO of Hamlet Protein since 2019. Having working in multinational companies during his career, he has developed a strong network in the industry. He makes an effort to meet with distributors and customers in their place of business, establishing strong relationships that form the basis of enduring business relationships.
You can find out more about me and my background here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikvisser/
Also check out www.hamletprotein.com for more information.
On my thinking about management you can read this:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-make-decisions-accelerate-business-operations-effect-erik-visser/
Input from an other interview:
https://millingandgrain.com/the-interview-erik-visser-ceo-of-hamlet-protein-21231/
My 2025 Market Outlook I published in January 2025:
Please send me the transcript of the interview for a final review and let me know when you will publish it on-line and in print.
