At BENEO, we don’t only produce functional plant-based ingredients for food and beverages, but also for pet food, livestock and aquafeed. Our commitment to connecting nutrition and health remains the same. No matter if our ingredients feed people, cats, dogs, piglets or ruminants. It is therefore a great asset to have Dr Maygane Ronsmans, an actual vet, as BENEO’s Product Manager for the animal nutrition portfolio. Check out my interview with her to learn more about Maygane’s role and how her academic background supports her work.

Get to know BENEO’s Product Manager Animal Nutrition

What is the first thing you do when starting your work day each morning?

First, I always check my email inbox, to see if any urgent messages have arrived. Then I take a look at my calendar to see what is on the agenda for the day. I do this in case I still need to foresee some last minute preparation time.

Can you tell me a bit about your main tasks and responsibilities that keep you busy in a typical work week?

My tasks and responsibilities are definitely very diverse. Generally, my work is focused on providing support for customers and colleagues about the nutritional and technological properties of our ingredients. That’s why I participate in customer meetings or attend trade shows together with my sales colleagues for example. Several times a year, I also join relevant industry conferences to keep up to date with recent developments. I am sometimes given the opportunity to give a talk at such events. Then I provide insights into nutritional topics related to BENEO’s ingredient portfolio.

At the same time, I am the contact person for BENEO’s expert departments when it comes to animal nutrition topics. For instance, I help coordinate scientific trials with our ingredients in close collaboration with the BENEO-Institute. The colleagues there bring together BENEO’s expertise in Nutrition Science, Nutrition Communication and Regulatory Affairs. They help me back up our ingredient benefits with scientific proof. I also liaise on regular basis with the application experts at the BENEO-Technology Center for new tests to extend our knowledge of the technological benefits of our ingredients into animal nutrition applications.

Additionally, I work closely with the Marketing and Corporate Communication teams on the content of press and marketing materials about our animal nutrition portfolio. That includes providing my expertise on our ingredients for the development of brochures, press releases or giving media interviews for trade magazines, for example. After all, we want to spread the word about the value we can offer for pet food and feed applications with the help of our versatile ingredients.

As a division of the Südzucker Group, BENEO is also involved in several cross-divisional projects. So, as soon as they refer to animal nutrition topics, I am a key contact.

That sounds like a challenging job that never gets boring! Does your veterinary academic background help you in fulfilling your responsibilities?

As I provide support on nutritional and technological topics for different types of animals, my veterinarian background helps me on a daily basis. My studies included lessons about nutrition, physiology, pathology and more. This helps me understand and position our ingredients’ benefits for our customers. After all, next to their nutritional value, BENEO’s functional plant-based ingredients offer additional health or technological benefits which can be complex to grasp. Also, when working with our customers I am mainly in contact with R&D and Product Development experts who are often nutritionists or veterinarians themselves. My academic background definitely provides me a certain level of authority and allows me to talk “equal” to “equal” and with similar jargon. This certainly strengthens technical discussions on equal footing and supports the collaboration with our customers.

How has BENEO-Animal Nutrition developed since you joined the team?

Since the launch of our business for pet food, livestock and aquafeed in 2007, we have grown continuously on a year-to-year basis. This impressive development is a proof that BENEO’s experts fulfills the requirements of the industry. The markets we operate in – pet food, livestock and aqua feed – are very demanding when it comes to quality or sustainability, for example. Being able to provide elaborated product and service proposals is appreciated by our customers and thus key to our success.

Sounds like quite the success story! It must be rewarding to be a part of this development. What are your favourite parts about your job?

What I like most about my job is how diverse it is – no day resembles the other. It requires me to switch from one task to the next and one topic to another in a flexible way. Also, I am at a pivot position between multiple internal and external stakeholders from within BENEO and our mother company Südzucker Group, but also customers, consultants or researchers. This is obviously challenging, but also results in a lot of rewarding moments.

There is also another level of variety in my job. The animal nutrition team promotes ingredients from various BENEO product lines, including carbohydrates, fibers and proteins, for diverse applications – pet food, livestock and aqua feed. This requires a lot of agility and flexibility in our approach. Personally, I like to be challenged regularly to stay motivated and trigger my creativity. I’m also continuously looking for ways to improve. My work in BENEO-Animal Nutrition offers me all that.

And what do you appreciate most about BENEO as a whole?

That’s easy: the people. Aside from the nice atmosphere, the colleagues at BENEO are very committed and passionate about their job. In turn, this inspires everyone to do their best and go the extra mile. This is the kind of environment I like to strive in.

As we are talking so much about animal nutrition, I need to ask: Do you have a pet and do you buy pet food with BENEO ingredients?

Yes, I have an outdoor cat named Caline at home. I feed her with dry food that includes BENEO’s prebiotic chicory root fibre Orafti® Inulin. Being aware of all the science behind this ingredient, I fully trust its benefits for a pet’s digestive health and even beyond the gut. But not only for my pet – I also consume chicory root fibre myself on a daily basis in my muesli.

Let’s end the interview with a look ahead: can you share your ambition for the future?

My heart and passion remain in the animal nutrition business. That’s why I strive to continue growing in my position as Product Manager, by continuously promoting our activities within BENEO, but also the Südzucker Group. On a more general note, I am someone who is eager to learn, be challenged on a regular basis, and continuously seeking for opportunities of personal and business growth.

Thank you so much for taking the time for the interview, Maygane. With dedicated and passionate colleagues as you, BENEO-Animal Nutrition has a bright future ahead!