2025 Will be another year of change for the animal feed industry. The implementation of EUDR will have a huge impact, along with other changes in legislation, technology, production, and the shift in consumer expectations. GMP+ International will continue to engage with our community to support the sector with concrete solutions and making it as simple as possible.
Expect nothing less this year.
International impact
Safe and sustainable feed, worldwide. That’s the goal. And we want to support more companies around the world than ever before.
Practices vary across regions, and while some have more wide-spread feed safety and sustainability cultures, others have not standards in place at all. This year we want to expand the work we do in developing markets, to support more companies who are producing, trading, and transporting feed. We have a strong foundation and this year we want to use this to deepen our impact with a focus on Europe and Brazil.
Improve our service
We are committed to enhancing the experience of being part of the GMP+ Community. Not just through continuously improving our scheme, but also how we interact with our community and the other services we offer.
This year companies will get to see our new GMP+ Platform, including the GMP+ Monitoring database. These new services build on our other recent improvements, like our new website and digitised scheme documents. We also want to continue learning, sharing knowledge, and adding value – like with the GMP+ Academy and introducing European sustainability legislation that impacts the feed sector on the Feed Legislation website. These new tools have been validated with our community and will improve the user experience even further.
We especially want to collaborate more closely with our network of Certification Bodies, auditors, and Registered Consultants who are working with our scheme more often than most. And, we will be working with our International Expert Committee to look at how we can make our governance structure both more efficient and more global at the role our subcommittees and Task Forces can play.
Champion sustainable feed
The industry is making moves on sustainability like never before, with legislation being a big driver. On topics like EUDR or Carbon Footprint, we are actively exploring options with an open mind as to what form our support for our community will take.
But compliance is just one of the sustainability topics on the feed sector’s mind. Companies are setting ambitious goals that we want to help realise, and this year we want to think along with companies to explore which topics will make the biggest difference for our community in future. Because this will be an important focus for the industry going forward, it will be important for us at GMP+ International.
Innovation in auditing
Later this year, we will be turbo-charging discussions about how technology can enhance auditing.
Building on numerous discussions over recent years with companies, branch organisations, Certification Bodies, auditors and experts across the community, we see a future where data and AI are harnessed so we can take a more risk-based approach to auditing. This has the potential to make audits more impactful and efficient, while reducing audit times.
We know auditors are keen to explore these options in a considered way, and what it could mean for how they can add value beyond their current work. We will engage with our community on this topic to find workable solutions that are practical and make a positive difference.
Onwards
I am proud of the progress we have seen in our industry, and I am positive about the opportunities to collaborate in 2025. Whatever the challenges, we have shown over the last 30+ years that when the feed sector works together, anything is possible. And I’m looking forward to a productive and positive year with you.
Martine was recently interviewed for the animal feed trade journal De Molenaar, and wrote about how companies can use the EUDR delay in All About Feed.