PRESS RELEASE

2 November 2020

Chemuniqué (Pty) Ltd is pleased to announce the promotion of Kyle Venter to research manager, effective as from 1 October 2020.

Kyle has just submitted his MSc thesis, entitled: “Effects of acid-binding capacity of South African feedstuffs and water pH on the performance of broilers”, at the University of Pretoria and is awaiting his results. His was also named the best Student Nutrition Poster for 2019 by the AFMA Technical Committee at the annual congress of the South African Society for Animal Science in Bloemfontein last year.

“Over the past two years of his internship, Kyle has proven his enthusiasm for research, as well as demonstrated significant practical research skills, which makes him a perfect candidate for this new role,” says Dr Peter Plumstead, innovation director at Chemuniqué. “Kyle has been instrumental in developing our new research facilities in Brits, and we were thrilled to promote him to this important position.”

In this new role, Kyle will be responsible for coordination and management of local and international trials at Chemuniqué’s research facility, as well as converting data into useful information for our customers to improve the efficiency of livestock production in southern Africa.

“I am passionate about research and innovation – a passion that has grown over the past two years at Chemuniqué, and I know will continue to grow working with our amazing research team,” says Kyle. “This should provide the ideal foundation to provide our customers with cutting-edge research and commercial solutions in the future. I am extremely excited by the prospect of furthering current knowledge with the help of Dr Plumstead and the Chemuniqué team!”

Previous interns in the Chemuniqué intern programme have been welcomed back into the industry, such as Stuart Taylor who is a contract grower manager at Goldi, a division of Astral Operations Ltd, while Micaela Pinto is currently working on completing a PhD degree in poultry nutrition in the United States. “In all cases, we are particularly proud of what our intern programme has accomplished over the years, and we are excited to invest in some phenomenal young animal scientists!”, says Dr Plumstead. “Over the years, our collaboration with industry and the University of Pretoria has been extremely successful and, together with development of our new research facilities, we are excited to continue expanding our investment in local research and innovation. This is, in great part, exactly what Chemuniqué stands for: investing in human capital development that is good for the individual, good for the company, good for the industry, and good for the country!”

Managing director, Terry Wiggill agrees. “Now, more than ever, we are asking ourselves: How can we create opportunities through greater collaboration between individuals, companies, and industries? We are in this together, as a company, as an industry, and as a country, and you can rest assured of our continued commitment to focusing on ways to improve production and feed efficiency into the future, specifically capitalising on the food production potential of sub-Saharan Africa.”

Please join us in congratulating Kyle in this new and exciting role!

If you have any queries regarding this press release, or would like to arrange an interview with Kyle Venter or Dr Peter Plumstead, please feel free to contact marketing manager Robyn Joubert, at +27 (0) 74 252 3333 or robyn@chemunique.co.za.