Published in association with Evonik
In today’s interconnected world, supply chains are vulnerable to a wide range of disruptions, including geopolitical tensions, trade barriers, extreme weather events, and volatile energy prices. These external challenges can severely impact the flow of goods, making long-distance sourcing less reliable and more costly.
As a result, local production is gaining recognition as a key strategy for bolstering food security. By prioritizing local sourcing, businesses can reduce reliance on distant suppliers and better mitigate the risks associated with global disruptions leading to more robust supply chains.
Shortening transportation routes also often means lower carbon emissions and less energy consumption, creating more sustainable supply chains. This can ensure businesses stay ahead of evolving regulatory frameworks, while meeting the needs of both the market and the environment.
As companies across the food and agriculture sector reassess their supply models, many are adopting strategies to reduce environmental impact while maintaining operational efficiency. One such company, Evonik – a leading provider of key feed ingredients for the livestock and aquaculture sector – has shifted its approach to prioritize more localized production. Expana spoke with two of Evonik’s experts, Dr. Dirk Hoehler, Head of the Essential Nutrition Product Line, and Norbert Steier, Head of Production & Technology for Animal Nutrition, who shared their insights on the vulnerabilities in food supply security and how a regional production strategy helps address some of the biggest challenges we face in supply chains.
[Expana] What are the notable vulnerabilities in our modern agrifood supply chains and the biggest challenges to food security you have observed?
[Dirk Hoehler] Improving food security is at the core of our organization and we see several relevant vulnerabilities across modern agrifood supply chains impacting food security. Geopolitical tensions and trade conflicts continue to intensify uncertainty in global markets, weakening supply chains. Additionally, increased energy costs, especially in Europe, add another layer of complexity, affecting both production and distribution expenses.
Regulatory challenges further complicate the landscape. For example, Europe’s CO2 pricing policies increase production costs, creating an uneven playing field where non-European producers may not face the same financial pressures. These factors contribute to supply chain instability and the need for more resilient, localized production models.
[Expana] How can the agrifood sector address these issues to safeguard food supply?
[Norbert Steier] The agrifood industry must take a proactive approach to strengthening supply chains and enhancing food security. At Evonik, we focus on three key strategies to achieve this.
First, we continuously optimize our production processes to enhance efficiency and sustainability, reducing costs and minimizing environmental impact while ensuring a reliable supply. Second, we strengthen local production networks, with our methionine production hubs in Antwerp and Wesseling playing a crucial role in securing regional supply and reducing dependence on external sources. Finally, we actively engage with policymakers to advocate for fair regulatory conditions, particularly addressing asymmetric environmental regulations that impact industry competitiveness.
Through these efforts, we are committed to building a more resilient and sustainable agrifood supply chain.
[Expana] Why is local production key in creating more sustainable supply chains?
[Dirk Hoehler] Localized production — across the globe — plays a crucial role in enhancing supply security and sustainability. In Europe, having regional production hubs ensures a stable supply of essential ingredients such as methionine for animal feed production.
Regional production naturally will minimize disruptions caused by external factors such as geopolitical tensions, trade conflicts, natural disasters and economic fluctuations. By producing closer to end markets, we can mitigate the impact of such disruptions, ensuring a more reliable supply chain.
What’s more, producing closer to the endpoint of the product shortens delivery routes, reduces transportation emissions and offers greater flexibility to adapt to market demands. Local production also enables better compliance with regional regulatory standards and sustainability goals, making the supply chain more resilient and future-proof.
[Expana] Evonik is known as a large methionine producer. For those outside of the animal feed sector can you share why it is such an important addition to the animal protein sector and the challenges in methionine supply chains?
[Norbert Steier] Methionine is a critical amino acid used in animal feed for poultry, ruminants, swine and aquaculture animal feed and is essential for healthy growth and efficient feed conversion. This feed additive plays a vital role in ensuring optimal animal performance, supporting the global demand for high-quality and sustainable protein production. Our ‘More with Less’ approach, focusing on low crude protein diets, demonstrates how methionine contributes to reducing the environmental footprint of livestock farming by improving feed efficiency and conserving natural resources.
However, methionine supply chains face several challenges. Regulatory hurdles, especially in Europe, create competitive imbalances where producers outside the EU may not face the same costs and restrictions. What’s more, a lot of methionine production is concentrated in Asia, which introduces complexities to supply for European and North American markets.
[Expana] What is Evonik’s model to ensure robust, sustainable supply chains?
[Dirk Hoehler] Evonik has built a reliable and sustainable supply network with three major methionine production hubs: Antwerp and Wesseling in Europe, Mobile, Alabama in the Americas, and Singapore in Asia-Pacific. This global integration ensures both flexibility and a secure supply.
To further strengthen our operations, we continuously invest in technology upgrades and sustainability initiatives. Our recent investments in Antwerp and Wesseling focus on increasing efficiency, reducing emissions and enhancing reliability.
Our commitment to backward integration means we are investing in expanding our own facilities to produce all the necessary intermediates for essential amino acids. This helps to ensure greater supply security and sustainability, such as at our sites in Singapore and Alabama, allowing us to control key intermediates in methionine production, improving cost efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint. For example, our backward integration efforts in Mobile are expected to reduce the specific product carbon footprint of DL-methionine from this site by around 7%.
[Expana] Looking ahead, what can we expect next from Evonik?
[Norbert Steier] Evonik remains committed to driving sustainability and innovation in methionine production. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in technological advancements to enhance capacity, efficiency and environmental performance across our global production sites.
Transparency and sustainability will remain at the forefront of our strategy. As consumer awareness grows regarding food origins and production methods, we aim to lead the conversation by promoting responsible animal nutrition practices through initiatives like our ‘More with Less’ campaign.
Furthermore, our ongoing engagement in industry discussions will help shape a more sustainable future for livestock farming, ensuring that our solutions contribute to a more efficient, transparent and environmentally friendly agrifood sector.
