Interview with our Nutritionist Dirk Coremans

Duynie’ goal is to create the best natural petfood ingredients for our clients. Several experts work hard every day to accomplish that. Take our nutritionist Dirk Coremans. His expertise is a guarantee of the quality and nutritional value of our plant-based ingredients. Furthermore, he advises clients so that they can make an optimal choice for their petfood formulation. That is part of the service of Duynie. 

From livestock to cat and dog food

Dirk has been working for Duynie since 2006. He first started at the feed segment, where he mainly dealt with nutrition for cows and pigs. A couple of years ago he switched to Duynie and now specializes in petfood, predominantly cat food and dog food. With a degree in animal husbandry at HAS University of Applied Science and another degree in animal nutrition at the renowned University of Wageningen, he is well up to the task. The job of a nutritionist is a versatile one. Dirk: “I deal with creating new products, take care that the specifications of our products are up to date and also assist sales or clients with technical questions. No day is the same!”

Always on the look-out for new products

One of the main tasks of a nutritionist is to develop new products. Dirk evaluates potential interesting markets with Duynie’ director and the Purchase department. Currently carrots and potato are the two main ingredients for Duynie. The company is looking to expand this with other plant-based petfood ingredients, such as spinach and pumpkin. This could also be interesting for markets besides cat food and dog food, such as small animal food. New product developments for horse feed and the aqua industry are carried out as well. Sustainability is always taken into account when looking at such prospects. Duynie only uses co-products, which is significantly more eco-friendly than using ingredients that are grown for the sole purpose of petfood.

Safe and nutritional petfood 

Selecting the right petfood ingredients is a process, as there are several factors to take into account. Dirk emphasises to not just look at price, but also at quality and safety. He advices on nutritional composition, about viscosity of the product and the anti-nutritional factors. As a nutritionist, Dirk can tell clients exactly how much potato, for example, a petfood formulation may contain. He also answers other questions regarding nutrition and quality. Lastly, he advises clients which plant-based ingredients suit their products the most. Dirk: “We analyse our products a lot and therefore know exactly what is in it. This allows me to give good advice.” In this capacity he contributes to Duynie’ quality and service. So that we can rightly call ourselves an expert in plant-based petfood!