In a new episode of “Fusiones y Adquisiciones”, we talk to Luz Muñoz Asenjo, a veterinarian by training and Marketing Director at Vilomix Iberia, a company specialised in animal nutrition.

With more than 25 years of experience in veterinary pharmaceuticals, animal nutrition and primary-sector companies, Luz offers a privileged view of a sector undergoing a strong process of professionalisation, consolidation and innovation.

From lab coat to strategy: Luz’s hybrid profile

Many people picture a veterinarian on a farm or in a clinic, but Luz’s career has followed a different path: commercial and marketing leadership roles in pharmaceutical and animal nutrition companies.

That technical background is key: her clients are veterinarians, livestock farmers and farming companies, and a deep understanding of what happens on the ground allows her to design strategies that truly connect with their needs.

Her career started as a medical representative in the pharmaceutical industry and evolved towards senior management roles, always in sectors linked to health, nutrition and the primary economy. Along the way she has witnessed first-hand the big changes of recent decades:

• Rapid professionalisation of farms.
• Disappearance of the small independent farmer and the emergence of large, highly structured groups.
• Growing importance of consolidation and corporate deals as a lever for growth.

Vilomix and the “hotel for pigs”: integration and consolidation in Spanish livestock

Luz currently works at Vilomix Iberia, the Iberian subsidiary of Vilomix (headquartered in Denmark), specialised in premixes, vitamins, minerals and nutritional additives for livestock and the feed industry.

In the conversation, Luz recalls a fact that often goes unnoticed:

Spain is the leading pork producer in the European Union and the third-largest producer worldwide, only behind the United States and China.

This leadership has been built, among other factors, on the integration model in pig farming. Luz explains it with a very graphic analogy: the integrated farmer is “a hotel for pigs”.

• The integrator provides animals, genetics, feed, veterinary services and medicines.
• The farmer provides facilities and labour.

For years this has been a very efficient win–win model, and a key factor in the growth of the Spanish pork sector. However, in recent years many large integrators have started buying the integrated farms, accelerating sector consolidation and triggering a domino effect across the entire supplier chain, where mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances have also become more frequent.

Fewer antibiotics, more microbiome: innovation in the service of animal health

Another big topic in the interview is the regulation of antibiotics and the very strict European framework. Luz is clear:

• The European Union has the strictest regulations in the world on antibiotic use, animal welfare and environmental control.
• Meat reaching European consumers is subject to rigorous checks both on farm and at slaughterhouse level, including withdrawal periods after antibiotic treatments.

This regulatory pressure, combined with public concern about antimicrobial resistance, has triggered a wave of innovation in animal nutrition:

• Development of non-antibiotic alternatives with bactericidal effect (prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics).
• Additives that strengthen the animal’s immune response, allowing its own immune system to control infection.
• Intense work on biosecurity, vaccination and gut health as pillars to reduce the need for antibiotics.

Luz shares a particularly striking example: a postbiotic developed from the microbiome of wild animals, designed to enrich the microbiota of domestic animals (pigs, calves) and make them more resistant to disease – almost like an “Actimel for animals”.

It is a good illustration of how nutrition is becoming a preventive health tool, complementary to vaccines, and a way to deliver differentiated value through strategic marketing and business development.

Costs, protein and sustainability: the strategic equation of animal nutrition

Luz highlights a key figure to understand why animal nutrition sits at the centre of the economic equation in livestock:

Between 70% and 75% of a farm’s costs are linked to feed.

This makes companies like Vilomix strategically important, not only in terms of animal health but also in terms of farm profitability. The company is working on:

• Designing feeds and premixes that improve feed conversion and reduce costs.
• Looking for alternative protein sources, given the scrutiny around soy and its link to deforestation.
• Developing new additives focused on gut health, microbiome and immune system, aligned with future regulatory restrictions.

Artificial intelligence: a tool, not an end

Beyond her role at Vilomix, Luz is deeply involved in the world of artificial intelligence, taking part in outreach initiatives and professional communities focused on its responsible use. From that dual perspective, she sends a clear message:

• AI should be seen as a tool serving a strategy, not as an end in itself.
• Before choosing technology, you need clear objectives, defined processes and “human intelligence” to set the direction.
• When implemented properly, AI can save time and money, improving efficiency across multiple departments, even in traditionally conservative sectors like animal nutrition.

Passion for prevention and the primary sector

The red thread running through the entire conversation is Luz’s passion for disease prevention in animals and people. Her professional evolution goes from seeing vaccines as the “magic wand” to embracing a broader view where nutrition becomes the essential first step towards a robust immune system.

Luz also defends the role of the primary sector—agriculture and livestock—as a pillar of food security, something that became very clear during the pandemic. Without local food production, she points out, dependence on third countries can become a critical risk.

Listen to the full episode

If you want to dive deeper into:

• How livestock farming is consolidating and what this means for suppliers and M&A.
• What Europe is doing to reduce antibiotic use without compromising animal health.
• How innovation in nutrition and microbiome can change the rules of the game.
• And how all this connects with strategy, marketing and talent in the primary sector…

 

Listen to the episode on Spotify by clicking here