AgWired

This is a two blog post. That means that it will appear on AgWired and on World Dairy Diary. Why? Because these folks did a great media relations event at World Dairy Expo and they have new product news.

They are Virtus Nutrition & Lallemand. Now I don’t know about you but it’s not easy to understand and write about what these folks make. However, they did what it took to get the media there and “explain” it. We were invited to a wine tasting/product discussion. I missed the introduction so I never did fully understand the relationship between Virtus and Lallemand, except that Lallemand manufacturers and Virtus distributes.

However, Lallemand makes yeast and yeast is used in wine making. In fact, we learned that most of the wine made in the world uses Lallemand manufactured yeast! Yeast is also used in animal nutrition and there are different kinds of yeast that produce different kinds of results.

So, what they did was have us taste 3 different kinds of wine that were made with all the same ingredients except that the yeast for each was different. They all tasted different and this demonstrated the whole point of the presentation that followed on animal nutrition! Very creative and very well done. Besides, they brought in a wine expert, Lallemand’s own Bob Charley, who is a forage products manager. He was excellent. In fact, the wine was excellent.

The best part was leaving though and receiving a 2-bottle wine holder with corkscrew and a bottle of red and white inside! I only have the white left. They stocked the holders with New Glarus Primrose Winery products, which was also a good idea since we were in Wisconsin and the winery is located in New Glarus, WI. Let’s do it again Lallemand & Virtus.

Virtus Nutrition, headquartered in Fairlawn, Ohio, today introduced Strata G™ with Omega-3 Fatty Acids, the first in a line of new products to appear under the new Strata G brand name. “Strata G products feature specific fatty acids, such as omega-3’s, that are meant to be strategically fed at a specific time for a specific result,” said Scott Sorrell, Director of Marketing for Virtus Nutrition.

Virtus Nutrition, headquartered in Fairlawn, Ohio, today announced a new, patented manufacturing process — Engineered Fatty Acid Conversion Technology (EFACT™) — that enables the company to produce calcium salts from virtually any fat source. “Science is just beginning to discover and understand the power of certain specific fatty acids,” said Dr. Steve Koenig, President and CEO of NutriScience Technologies, holding company of Virtus Nutrition. “EFACT gives us the ability to build new products with virtually any fatty acid profile from a wide variety of fat sources”.”

Hello you wine drinkers. You fall into one of six basic groups. Bet you didn’t know that. Constellation Wines has announced the results of Project Genome, one of the largest consumer research projects ever conducted by the wine industry. I want to fall into the “Satisfied Sipper” group and since it’s about time to make supper perhaps I should go get satisfied.

The online study of more than 3,500 premium wine consumers indicates that there is no typical wine consumer; rather, consumers tend to fall into six unique segments, each with its own set of attributes, motivations, preferences and shopping behaviors. The results include fresh insight on premium wine consumers’ drinking and buying habits and on psychological and lifestyle factors. It will have wide-ranging impact on wine sales by retailers and on-premise establishments in areas ranging from packaging, advertising and customer education to grocery displays and restaurant wine lists.

According to the study, conducted by Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Research, Inc., premium wine consumers surveyed fell into six segments: Enthusiast, Image Seeker, Savvy Shopper, Traditionalist, Satisfied Sipper and Overwhelmed.

To figure out which one you are, visit their website to read more about it, including descriptions of each segment.

Speaking of teaming up deals, here’s another one. Pioneer is working together with DFS, Inc. on a grain testing pilot on animal nutrition.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., and DFS, Inc., have announced a joint research collaboration to measure levels of digestible energy (DE) in corn grain for animal feed. Pioneer, the world’s largest seed company, and DFS, a leading regional feed manufacturer, will use this information to better manage grain quality variation in the feed production process.

This research effort will use proprietary NIR (near infrared) technology developed by Pioneer which measures grain DE for monogastric animals such as hogs and poultry. By measuring the DE levels of corn grain, DFS will be better able to evaluate and manage the inbound nutritional value of grain, which will result in more efficient feed production process control.

Monsanto is out making it happen as they say. This time teaming up with the Solae Company on a soybean project. I can only “imagine” how big this deal will be!

Monsanto and The Solae Company today announced an agreement to develop and market a new line of soy proteins with improved flavor and solubility. This collaboration combines each company’s unique strengths to bring such a technology to market. “Soy-based products are one of the fastest-growing food industry segments,” said Paul Graham, vice president of new business development for The Solae Company. “This agreement will allow us to offer the best tasting, most soluble soy protein on the market, further reinforcing our commitment to drive innovation in food formulation and taste. It is one of several technologies we’re using to best meet our customers’ needs.”

You know you’ve got the job when they have you send out your own news release! Besides that Andrea has been busy getting the word out for Select Sires.

Select Sires has hired Andrea Myers as sales and marketing communications specialist. In this role Myers will manage the writing and production of Select Sires’ customer newsletter, Selections; coordinate all press releases; and work closely with the sales and marketing team to promote Select Mating Service.

Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is North America’s largest A.I. organization and is comprised of 10 farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives. As the industry leader, it provides highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying dairy and beef producers with North America’s best genetics at a reasonable price.