POULTRYINDONESIA, Pasuruan – The sustainability of Indonesia’s livestock industry requires new ideas capable of addressing increasingly complex challenges. In response to this need, ADM Animal Nutrition Indonesia held the ADM Livestock Innovation Essay Competition 2026, carrying the theme “Empowering Future Leaders for The Sustainable Livestock Industry.” The program is part of ADM’s “Next Generation Thinking” campaign. The competition attracted 180 teams from 46 universities across Indonesia, engaging young academics and providing students with a platform to present ideas, concepts, and impactful solutions for the future of Indonesia’s livestock industry.

According to Wully Wahyuni, S.Pt., MBA, Country General Manager/Director of ADM, the ADM Livestock Innovation Essay Competition 2026 is ADM’s first initiative to introduce an essay competition for students in Indonesia’s livestock industry. “This competition was born from a collaboration between the needs of the livestock industry, the company’s vision, and the potential and creativity of young people in the academic community. Through this competition, students are given the opportunity to look at various issues in the livestock industry from a broader perspective while offering innovative and sustainable solutions,” she said to participants and guests attending the ADM Winner Inauguration 2026 at the ADM Pasuruan Plant, East Java.

Wully added that ADM aims to develop a program with a long-term impact on human resource development in the livestock industry. “The competition is designed so that participants do not simply produce an essay, but also go through a lengthy process, from developing ideas and formulating concepts to working as a team and presenting their work. Teamwork is also an important value that ADM seeks to foster,” Wully explained.

In this competition, in addition to involving internal judges, ADM also invited two guest judges who are also ADM customers: Bayu Sesarahardian, S.Pt., MP., M.Sc., Senior Manager of Feed Technology at PT Sinta Prima Feedmill, and Henri Eko Prasetyo, DVM., M.VSc., Nutritionist & Business Development Manager at PT Dinamika Megatama Citra.

The competition ran from February to August 2026, beginning with participant registration and continuing through the selection and judging stages involving 10 finalists. In addition to ADM’s internal judges, the company also invited the two guest judges, who contributed their expertise and perspectives from the livestock industry.

The ADM Winner Inauguration 2026 served as the culmination of the celebration, held by ADM on August 11, 2026, at the ADM Pasuruan Plant. In addition to inviting the winning students, ADM also invited their academic advisors to attend the event.

UGM Team Wins First Place

First place in the Essay Competition was won by a team consisting of Anjeli Astriani, Dini Aruni Karunia Romadhoni, and Bangkit Setiyoko from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), with their essay titled “Meatsafe: Development of an Integrated Meat Food Safety Application Using Augmented Reality and Artificial Apps as a Step Toward Strengthening Public Health.”

In addition to winning first place, the UGM team took home three awards: First Place in the Essay Competition, Best Presentation, and Best Creative Video.

Second place in the Essay Competition was awarded to a team consisting of Roihan M Iqbal, Zahran Putra Arganta, and Muhammad Rayhan Shadiq from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), with their essay titled “CoolBarn: Smart Coating from Used Cooking Oil to Address Heat Stress and Emissions in Livestock Housing in Indonesia.”

Third place went to a team consisting of Siti Yunita, Syafira Nabilah Azzahrah, and Bagus Setiyawan from Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, with their essay titled “Buffalo Pack: An Innovative Edible Film Made from Buffalo Hide Gelatin as a Plastic-Free Packaging Solution to Support the Circular Economy.”

The Special Recognition Award was presented to IPB University for its essay titled “BioChroma: An Innovative Smart Bio-Litter Microgranule Based on Ruminant Waste for Ammonia Neutralization and Visual pH Monitoring in Poultry Houses,” created by Ahmad Sabil Alifian, Bobi Setiawan, and Febrianti Galingging.

The winners of the ADM Essay Competition 2026

The event began with the main agenda, Winner Announcement & Awarding, as a form of appreciation for the innovation, ideas, courage, teamwork, and enthusiasm demonstrated by the young academics. Participants and invited guests then had the opportunity to take part in a tour of the ADM Pasuruan Plant.

The tour began with an ADM Lab Introduction, where participants received a brief presentation about ADM’s laboratory, facilities, and services. This was followed by a SINCRO Services Introduction. SINCRO is an integrated ecosystem that provides smart solutions and services built on three main pillars: Control, Nutrition, and Performance. Participants were then guided around the plant to observe its facilities and technologies, including the operation of automated machinery through to the finished product stage.

Sustainability and Industry Challenges Take Center Stage

The event continued with an interactive Talk Show themed “Industry Outlook & Career.” The speakers not only answered questions from the participants but also shared insights into the livestock industry and offered tips for aspiring future leaders.

During the ADM Talk Show, sustainability emerged as one of the key topics discussed. Bayu Sesarahardian, S.Pt., MP., M.Sc., explained that sustainability is no longer limited to economic aspects but also encompasses environmental and social considerations.

“When we talk about sustainability, there are three main pillars: economic, environmental, and social. Today, companies cannot focus solely on productivity, efficiency, and profit, but must also consider their impact on the environment and society,” he said.

According to him, market demands are also increasingly encouraging the industry to produce safe and sustainable products, particularly to meet export market requirements. “Customers are now paying greater attention to food security and food hygiene. Therefore, the industry also needs to move toward more sustainable certification,” he added.

Meanwhile, Henri Eko Prasetyo, DVM., M.VSc., agreed that current conditions are different from those five or ten years ago. Today, demand has evolved, and meat and egg consumers are increasingly aware of antibiotic-free products and are focusing on food products with higher value.

In addition to highlighting current challenges facing the livestock industry, Henri also shared his insights on becoming a future leader. According to him, a future leader must first possess learning agility—the willingness to keep learning and not limit oneself to a single field or industry.

“By opening ourselves to different perspectives and new knowledge, we can see a problem from a broader perspective. For example, I really appreciate our friends from ITB who come from different backgrounds but are willing to learn about the livestock industry. For me, that is one concrete example of learning agility,” he explained.

Beyond the ability to learn, Henri continued, future leaders must also possess strong collaboration skills. Intelligent people or those with high levels of competence will not create maximum impact if they are not open to other perspectives.

“Therefore, I believe collaboration between the government, academia or researchers, industry, and farmers is very important. Research conducted at universities should not simply stop at journals, theses, or dissertations, but should also be relevant to industry needs and provide solutions that can actually be implemented in the field.”

Henri viewed this competition as one example of an initiative that encourages such openness and collaboration.

Driving Innovation That Creates Real Impact

On the same occasion, Yan Andria, Regional Director of Quality and Food Safety Animal & Pet Nutrition at ADM, said that the innovation the industry needs today is not merely about creating something new, but must be capable of delivering tangible impact and becoming a breakthrough.

Yan explained that ADM is also continuing to develop innovation through a product localization approach, or regionalization, enabling products that were previously sourced from abroad to be developed and adapted to local market needs.

According to Yan, the ideas presented by students in the competition also have the potential to provide valuable input for ADM’s business development. An idea does not always have to immediately become something big; one idea can generate other sub-ideas that can be explored further.

Wully added that ADM highly appreciates the enthusiasm, ideas, innovation, spirit, and teamwork demonstrated by the younger generation throughout the event.

“Through this program, ADM hopes that students will not only gain competition experience, but also have the opportunity to understand industry challenges firsthand and develop relevant solutions. We also hope that this competition can become an annual agenda organized by ADM,” Wully concluded.

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