MAP and FMD Funds Grows US DDGS Exports to Japan

The U.S. Grains Council’s Distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) promotion program in Japan has made significant strides using sector-specific marketing strategies to promote the feed ingredient across the Japanese livestock and feed industries.

DDGS is a co-product of ethanol production from corn, which is rich in protein and fibers. DDGS contains about 3 times concentrated nutritional components of corn except for starch being used for ethanol production. Since the Japanese consumers prefers thick orange to yellow color for egg yolk, a major focus of the promotion by the U.S. Grains Council Japan office is high concentration of xanthophylls, which gives orange to yellow color in egg yolk.

By utilizing $126,000 MAP marketing fund, the Council conducted seminars and workshops targeting the Japanese feed and livestock industry to promote their use of DDGS, including the coloring effect of DDGS on egg yolk.

Those annual seminars have continuously provided information from animal nutrition experts and research scientists that recognize the concerns and needs of each sector of Japan’s DDGS market. For Japan’s layer sector, Council-hosted workshops have demonstrated how concentrated xanthophylls, found in DDGS, can deepen egg yolk from its natural yellow color to an orange pigment. Although this preference is unique to the layer sector, it currently accounts for almost 60 percent of total DDGS imports, which translates into almost 24,000 metric tons per month.

As a result, the sales of DDGS from the United States increased from 8,622,366,000 yen ($107,780,000) in calendar year 2011 to 12,724,573,000 yen ($141,384,130) in CA 2012, up 4,243,591,000 yen.

Sector-specific promotional programs, like the Japanese layer sector, have led the Council to maximize niche marketing opportunities and innovatively develop industries to their potential.