Your Business Intelligence Center: Learn More, Plan Smarter, Make Better Decisions
FeedMatch Editorial — procurement desk · Published · Updated · 8 min read
The FeedMatch Business Intelligence Center is the set of open guides, feed and ingredient calculators, a daily industry briefing, checklists and country buyer journeys that sit around our human-reviewed RFQ service. Use it to define what you need, put your own numbers on the options and spot expensive mistakes before you ask any supplier for a price. The resources below are open to read and use; a free buyer account is optional and only saves your requests and downloads.
Why learn before you choose a supplier
Most expensive feed purchasing errors are made before the first quotation arrives. A buyer asks three suppliers for "broiler grower pellets" and receives three prices for three different products: different crude protein declarations, different pellet sizes, one price ex-works and two delivered. The cheapest number on the page is not necessarily the cheapest feed on the farm.
The same pattern repeats with ingredients. An ingredient price is not the price of finished feed, a lot without an analysis certificate is not comparable with one that has it, and a delivered price under one Incoterm cannot be compared with a price under another. None of this requires advanced economics — it requires a clear definition, your own records and a consistent way to compare.
That is what the center is for. It does not replace your nutritionist, veterinarian or engineer, and it does not tell you which supplier to choose. It gives you the questions, the arithmetic and the checklists so the decision you make is your own and is made on comparable information.
What is inside the center
Everything listed here is a working page on FeedMatch today. Each item is labelled with how you can access it.
Guides and research
Start here when the question is "what exactly am I buying?" The guides explain specifications, feed forms, ingredient categories and the documents to ask for.
- Knowledge Center
Buyer guides on buying complete feed, ingredients, additives and premixes, organised by category.
Open access - Animal Feed Knowledge Hub
Pillar guides on species, production stages and feeding systems.
Open access - Buyer Intelligence Center
Decision guides and checklists written for procurement teams.
Open access
Calculators
Each calculator works only from the numbers you enter. None of them contain supplier prices or promise a result, and the methodology page shows every formula.
- Calculator hub
All feed, cost and planning calculators in one place.
Open access - Feed conversion ratio calculator
Turns your recorded feed and output into FCR and feed cost per unit of output.
Open access - Landed cost calculator
Adds freight, insurance, duties and local charges to an offer price.
Open access - Ingredient cost comparison calculator
Compares the cost of ingredient options on the basis you choose.
Open access - Ingredient lot comparison
Puts two or more lots side by side on price, analysis and delivery terms.
Open access - Farm feed storage calculator
Checks how many days of feed your bins or warehouse can hold.
Open access - Farm feed records tool
Logs intake, batches and waste so later comparisons rest on real data.
Open access - Calculator methodology
Explains every formula and data source used by the calculators.
Open access
Market intelligence
A daily briefing of public feed and grain trade headlines, with a short buyer-impact note. It is context for planning, not a price forecast.
- Industry Intelligence briefing
Daily selection of feed and grain trade headlines with a short note on why it may matter to buyers.
Open access
Checklists and templates
- Procurement checklists and RFQ templates
Downloadable checklists for specifications, supplier review and requests.
Open access
Country-specific insights
Country pages cover local sourcing questions such as import routes, documentation and the order in which buyers usually work.
- Nigeria sourcing page
Country-specific notes for feed and ingredient buyers in Nigeria.
Open access - Mexico buyer journey
Step-by-step journey for buyers sourcing in or for Mexico.
Open access
Existing feed line upgrades
For operations improving an existing on-site feed line rather than building a new plant.
- Feed line upgrade FAQ
Costs, timelines and risks to clarify before upgrading an existing feed line.
Open access
Human expert support
When you are ready, the FeedMatch team reviews your request, approaches suppliers and presents their responses for comparison. Buyers do not need to contact suppliers directly.
- Structured RFQ intake
Submit a request; the team reviews it and contacts suppliers on your behalf.
Managed service — human review - How FeedMatch works
The managed, supplier-neutral process from request to compared offers.
Open access - Buyer account
Optional free account that keeps your RFQs and guide downloads in one place.
Free buyer account (optional)
How buyers use the center
- 1
Learn
Guides, specifications and country journeys
- 2
Calculate
FCR, landed cost and ingredient comparisons with your numbers
- 3
Compare
Checklists and like-for-like offer review
- 4
Request
Structured RFQ reviewed by the FeedMatch team
Annotated examples
A poultry farm comparing two pellet offers
Two complete-feed offers look 4% apart. Before negotiating, the buyer checks that both declare the same nutrient analysis and pellet size, then converts both to a delivered price with the landed cost calculator. With the farm's own recorded FCR in the FCR calculator, the comparison becomes feed cost per kilogram of live weight rather than price per tonne — the number that actually reaches the farm's margin.
A shrimp or fish farm planning storage before a busy season
The farm wants to buy a larger volume ahead of a period when roads or ports are slower. The storage calculator shows how many days of feed the existing space really holds, and the records tool shows past waste. The result may be a smaller first order with a scheduled second delivery, rather than a discount that ends up as spoiled feed.
A buyer comparing soybean meal lots
Three lots arrive with different protein, moisture and delivery terms. The lot comparison tool puts them side by side on the same basis, and the checklist confirms which documents each lot still needs. The buyer then sends one structured request so every supplier answers the same questions.
Ingredient lot comparison Procurement checklists and RFQ templates Structured RFQ intake
A practical walkthrough: from question to comparable request
- Write down what you feed, to which animals and at which stage. The Knowledge Center and Knowledge Hub help you name the product and its specification correctly.
- Collect your own figures: monthly volume, recorded FCR or intake, storage capacity, delivery location. The records and storage tools help if these are not yet written down.
- Run the calculators with those figures. Keep the results — they are your baseline for every later offer.
- Read the Industry Intelligence briefing and, where relevant, your country page for context on timing, routes and documentation.
- Use the checklist to build a request every supplier must answer the same way, then submit it through the structured RFQ. The team reviews it before any supplier is contacted.
What the center does not do
- It does not publish supplier prices, rations, dosages or guaranteed savings. Results depend on your own data and decisions.
- It does not give veterinary or clinical nutrition advice; formulation changes belong with a qualified nutritionist.
- It does not connect you to suppliers automatically. FeedMatch manages supplier contact and presents responses to you.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Business Intelligence Center free to use?
Yes. The guides, calculators, Industry Intelligence briefing, checklists and country pages listed in this article are open to read and use without signing in. Buyers do not pay to use FeedMatch. A free buyer account is optional and only keeps your requests and downloads together.
Do the calculators include supplier prices or market prices?
No. Every calculator works only from the values you enter, such as your offer price, freight, recorded feed use and output. The calculator methodology page documents each formula.
Can I use the center if I am not ready to request quotes?
Yes. Many buyers use the guides and calculators for weeks before sending a request. When you are ready, the structured RFQ reuses the same information so you do not start again.
Who reviews my request?
The FeedMatch procurement team reviews every request before contacting suppliers and then presents the responses for you to compare. FeedMatch is supplier-neutral and does not sell feed or equipment.
Start with what you already know
Open the Knowledge Center to define the product, then run your own numbers in the calculators. When the comparison is clear, send one structured request and let the team handle the supplier conversation.