What is functional feed?

Functional feed is an essential material for global food production, playing an important role in improving livestock productivity, maintaining their health, and maintaining the yield and quality of livestock products.
They are produced by formulating natural extracts and chemically synthesized functional ingredients and are classified into "Feed Additive" consisting only of specified ingredients, and "Compound Feed" which is a mixture of specified ingredients and feed ingredients, and our group handles both.
The Idemitsu Group has commercialized functional feed products such as "RUMINUP," which uses cashew nut Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) as an active ingredient, and "MOLUCCA," which uses Bacillus subtilis natto as an active ingredient.

Cashew Nut Shell Liquid contributes to reducing methane gas emissions from cow burps

Cows have four stomachs, and the first stomach (rumen) closest to the mouth is home to numerous microorganisms that digest the grass they eat and convert it into energy. During some processes, methane gas, a greenhouse gas, is produced and released into the atmosphere as burps. When converted to carbon dioxide, the methane gas produced by the burps of ruminants kept as livestock (such as cows, sheep, and goats) is estimated to amount to approximately 2 billion tons per year worldwide, which is equivalent to approximately 4% of the greenhouse gases produced by human activities worldwide. For this reason, methane gas emitted by livestock has become a problem in light of the recent global trend toward climate change countermeasures.
The keyword that contributes to solving this problem is "cashew nuts." It has been reported that feeding cows feed containing Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) reduces methane emissions from the rumen. ^* Research is also being conducted on its effects on milk productivity and reproductive performance, weight gain in beef cattle, and maintaining ruminal function.

Cashew Nut Shell Liquid has been designated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as Feed Additive that has the effect of reducing methane gas in cow burps.

In May 2025, Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) was designated as Feed Additive to reduce methane gas in cows' burps. CNSL is the first natural product to be designated as Feed Additive.
CNSL is rich in natural phenols such as anacardic acid, and has been recognized by the government as having the effect of reducing the production of methane gas excreted by cows as burps by acting on the bacterial flora in the first stomach of cows. It has been designated as Feed Additive "for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gases," which is included in the "Supplementation of nutritional components and other effective ingredients in feed."
CNSL is a difficult material to handle, but our Group's technological capabilities have enabled us to develop processing techniques that make it easy to handle and keep the active ingredients from changing, providing a product that can be safely fed to livestock.