Milling and Grain Magazine recently had the opportunity to visit ICC in Brazil to visit the Santo Antonio Yeast plant, and in their unit in Jundiaí, São Paulo. The opportunity to see the production process up close was a greatly informative and highlighted the necessity of yeast additives in the industry.
From Biofuel to Yeast: a future potential
Brazil is the largest producer of sugar cane ethanol in the world, producing over 30 billion litres a year. The highly sustainable and clean biofuel has many uses and can be utilized to create yeast – a valuable product for the feed industry. Producing Yeast from sugarcane ethanol is a great way to generate more value out of sugarcane, however most of industry doesn’t yet recover yeast from ethanol, choosing to instead waste it on the fields.
For context, 1 litre of ethanol can produce 30g of yeast, and current production is at 120k tonnes of yeast. This is just 13 percent of what is possible – there is in fact a potential for 900k tonnes a year of yeast to be produced. ICC see this potential in future production.
Our visit to the Santo Antonio plant
Owned by Balbo Group, founded in 1946 and located in Sertãozinho, the Santo Antonio currently has a crushing capacity of three million tonnes of sugar cane per harvest. The scale of the plant as we arrived was astonishing. The flexible industrial plant can produce crystal sugar, anhydrous ethanol, hydrated ethanol, and yeast. The plant crushes 16k metric tonnes per day and runs 24/7.
The team at ICC showed us the process, beginning with the sugarcane plantation, where the sugarcane is transported to the process plant, then crushed as the extraction process begins to create sugarcane juice. The juice can then be fermented, and at this point can either go to the centrifuge, or treatment tank, to create live yeast cream, and transported to the yeast plant. At the yeast plant, various methods of autolysis of drying are carried out. The methods used depend on the product and the purpose of the product.
During this process of extraction, steam is created and directed to a turbine, that in turn creates enough electricity to power the plant, making the plant completely self-sufficient!
ICC are the only Yeast producer at this ethanol plant, working seamlessly alongside the ethanol producers.
Why does the industry need yeast?
“This industry is about to have a revolution” says Glycon Santos, CEO of ICC. He tells us there’s no silver bullet when it comes to animal production, however yeast provides a solution that goes beyond health nutrition and environment.
Yeast additives are a protective measure in animal health, which in turn prevents the need for antibiotics. They play a very important role in reducing the price of feed by increasing productivity, improving intestinal health, which sees feed conversion rates go down due to the reduction of pharma products.
It’s scientifically proven to reduce mortality. Through 320 scientific trials, the data shows that animals consuming yeast have a better immune system. The yeast extract ingredients ICC produce is naturally sustainable, gluten grain and GMO free, they have a high bio value, good digestibility, among many other advantages.
Regarding Aquafeed, there are many applications. The yeast is a great protein source, whilst inactive dry yeast cannot entirely replace fishmeal, combine fishmeal with yeast can create healthier feed, better feed conversion and growth rates, and even reduce pollution in water.
Visiting the warehouse in Jundiaí
Milling and Grain also had the opportunity to visit ICC’s warehouse in Jundiaí.
Located in the countryside of São Paulo state, with a total area of 15,400 m², the plant has a new factory concluded in 2021, with an investment of R$15 million. The plant has the capacity to produce seven tonnes per hour, with a daily production of up to 147 tonnes, and is fully automatised, mixing up to three ingredients at the same time.
During our time at the unit we were able to see the labs up close, where ICC are working tirelessly to perform quality internal analysis, using UPLC equipment to perform free nucleotides and nucleosides analysis.
ICC – a growing company
2023 saw ICC’s 31st anniversary, as a leading producer of yeast additives.
Founded in 1992, ICC’s mission is innovation that is constantly evolving, focusing on natural solutions for animal health. They now work with 32 ethanol plants and sells to over 70 countries worldwide.
Their global presence is consistently developing, with over 30 events attended in 2023, partnerships with University’s to get trusted data for their research, and they’re building and investing in a high-performance team to bring the company to where it needs to go. With currently around 250 employees, they are looking to expand their product line in the future. Constantly following the trends in feed production, such as safe food, accessible food, and food security, ICC’s mission is to reduce the use of antibiotics whilst increasing animal welfare. The bar is always being pushed in the industry, and ICC are innovators in this aspect.