OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: FOOD

Sustainability Spotlight: Alumni

IN SEARCH OF THE LOW-EMISSION CHICKEN

Giles Shih 99G, Cofounder, Chairman, and CEO of BRI

Giles Shih and his father started BRI twenty years ago to create bio-based products that would help chickens, pigs, and other livestock healthier in a sustainable way — without antibiotics. “We saw an opportunity to bring technology and innovation from the laboratory into the marketplace,” Shih says. “We manufacture a feed additive that is sustainable for animals, people, and the environment. The animals absorb more nutrients and grow faster.”

Shih says that they are aiming for a “low-emission chicken” — one that excretes less waste and has a lower environmental impact, while providing more egg or meat protein.

BRI’s ultimate goal is to help farmers grow healthier livestock on less feed. The company has worked with some of the largest poultry companies around the world in developing their products.

“Companies like the Tysons and Perdues of the world are our potential end users,” Shih says. “They are trying to optimize their yield and production while also maintaining the health and well-being of their animals, especially in an age of increasing awareness of food safety issues and focus on the connections between animal and human health.”

—Brian Hudgins and Elizabeth Cobb Durel