Peanut meal vs soybean meal: Which source is a cost-effective protein?

Feed ingredients that contain high protein content are important in the nutrition of animals and the general cost of the feed. Over the decades, the most common protein source in poultry, cattle, and aquafeed rations has been soybean meal (SBM). Nevertheless, worldwide SBM prices remain high, which is approximately USD 480550 per ton FOB (IndexMundi, 2024).

A potential good alternative is peanut meal, which is a product of peanut oil extraction that has 45-50 percent crude protein and a balanced amino acid composition. Large-scale producers like India, China, and Vietnam currently provide peanut meal at USD 300 380 per ton FOB, which provides feed formulators with a 2030 price difference as compared to soybean meal but does not reduce livestock or aquaculture nutritional performance.

Peanut meal vs. soybean meal: Nutritional and economic comparison

In assessing the feed ingredients, the manufacturers take into consideration two important factors, namely the nutritional efficiency and the economic value per unit of protein. Peanut meal and soybean meal contain high protein content as well, although their amino acid ratios, digestibility, and cost structure vary.

Nutritional comparison

The table below provides a summary of the key nutritional parameters of the two ingredients (average data on FAO Feed resources and NRC data).

Nutrient (as-fed basis)	Peanut Meal	Soybean Meal (dehulled)
Crude Protein (%)	45–50	46–48
Crude Fat (%)	1–2	1.5–2
Crude Fiber (%)	5–7	3–5
Metabolizable Energy (kcal/kg)	2,300–2,600	2,400–2,700
Lysine (%)	1.3	2.8
Methionine (%)	0.6	0.65
Tryptophan (%)	0.2	0.6
Calcium (%)	0.2	0.3
Phosphorus (%)	0.6	0.65

Although soybean meal contains higher levels of lysine and tryptophan, which are essential to poultry and swine, peanut meal is almost comparable in overall protein and energy content, thus making it a good partial replacement (20 -40) in most livestock diets.

In ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats), peanut meal is even more effective given the fact that the rumen bypass protein is very high, which promotes the generation of milk and growth efficiency.

Digestibility and feed performance

According to studies done by the FAO and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), replacing up to 30 percent of soybean meal with peanut meal in the poultry diets did not result in significant changes to the feed ratio in the feed proportions.

Aquaculture experiments conducted with tilapia and catfish have shown that the rate of peanut meal inclusion can reach 10-20 percent without an impact on the growth rate or feed consumption.

Economic comparison

According to current international market data (Q3–Q4 2025):

Parameter	Peanut Meal (Vietnam, India)	Soybean Meal (Brazil, USA)
Average FOB Price (USD/ton)	300–380	480–550
Protein Content (%)	46	47
Cost per 1% Protein (USD)	6.5–8.3	10.2–11.7
Landed Cost (Asia)	USD 340–410/ton	USD 530–610/ton

The cost per unit of protein is 25 -35 percent cheaper in peanut meal than soybean meal, and this is a big saving prospect to large feed producers.

Additional considerations

Factor	Peanut Meal	Soybean Meal
Availability	Seasonal (mainly post-harvest)	Year-round global production
Anti-nutritional factors	Risk of aflatoxin (manageable with QC)	Trypsin inhibitors (heat-treated)
Palatability	Highly acceptable to ruminants	Widely accepted by all species
Sustainability	By-product of the edible oil industry	Requires intensive soybean farming

In general, the sustainability of peanut meal and its low cost make it a more popular ingredient among feed producers who want to find the balance between nutrition and profit.

Why is peanut meal demand rising

Over the last ten years, the international feed business has been subject to growing pressures due to uncertain commodity prices, supply chain issues, and sustainability. With soybean meal still high and fish meal rising, the feed manufacturers are turning to other sources of plant proteins such that they do not need to spend a lot of money formulating their feeds but can achieve the same performance.

There are three main tendencies across the world that have resulted in peanut meal becoming one of the most viable and cost-efficient substitutes.

Rising feed costs and the search for alternatives

In livestock and aquaculture operations, 60-70 percent of the total production expenses are in the area of feed. The feed producers are experiencing high margins when protein components, including soybean meal or fish meal, skyrocket.

In the year 2023-2024, the world soybean meal price increased by more than 20 percent as a result of droughts in South America and high demand for biodiesel. This led to manufacturers of feed in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa starting to use peanut meal in their formulas as a cheaper form of protein.

As an illustration, in India and Bangladesh, poultry food manufacturers have already attained 10-15 percent cost savings by substituting some of their soybean meal with peanut meal – without any alteration in their feed output.

Expanding production in Asia and Africa

The large processing industries of peanut oil have made countries like India, China, Vietnam, and Nigeria major producers of peanut meal.

According to FAO statistics, over 60 percent of all peanut meal production is in Asia, and Vietnam has a capacity to increase its output, which has been on the rise over the past five years thanks to the increasing peanut production and better processing plants.

This increase has contributed to increased dependability in terms of availability of supply, and exporters such as Vietfeeds have been able to have constant availability of supply throughout the year to global consumers.

Sustainability and by-product utilization

Another force is sustainability. Peanut meal is a by-product of peanut oil extraction i.e., its production is an addition to agricultural residues, and it minimizes waste. Peanut meal is a protein source that is less eco-effective in terms of land, water, and fertilizer as compared to soybean meal.

This is very much in line with the sustainability ambitions of the global feed and food corporations that have had to face mounting pressure to minimize their carbon footprint as well as procure environmentally friendly ingredients.

Strong demand from aquafeed and ruminant sectors

Due to its digestible protein and palatability among fish species such as tilapia, pangasius ,and carp, aquafeed producers in Southeast Asia are increasingly resorting to peanut meal as a closer fish meal replacement.

In the meantime, Middle East and African dairy and beef producers are feeding peanut meal to ruminant diets to achieve more protein at reduced costs.

The versatility associated with this cross-sector means that peanut meal is an excellent raw material that feed manufacturers could use to diversify the protein sources they use.

Vietnam’s advantage: Why global buyers choose Vietfeeds for peanut meal

Vietnam has also been slowly emerging as one of the most dependable sources of peanut meal in Asia as the global market for the valuable feed ingredient keeps growing. Although conventional exporters such as India and China lead in terms of volume, Vietnam is identified to have steady quality management, an adaptable supply chain, and high export orientation, which are some of the aspects that global manufacturers and traders of feed are progressively seeking.

Strategic location near key raw material sources

The areas of peanut farming in Vietnam, specifically those of Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Tay Ninh provinces, are situated near large oil production and feed processing centers. This geographical location reduces transportation expenses between raw material and processing plant, which guarantees freshness, constant proteins, and reduced transportation logistics.

To the exporters such as Vietfeeds, this implies that they can deal directly with local processors, quality control at the source, and FOB and CIF prices can be competitive to foreign buyers.

Consistent quality and verified nutritional profile

Vietnamese peanut meal typically contains:

• Crude protein: 45–50%
• Crude fiber: 5–7%
• Fat content: 1–2% (defatted type)
• Moisture: below 12%

These specifications render it suitable for poultry, swine, aquafeed, and ruminant feed formulations. In contrast to other markets where quality may vary with variation in oil extraction processes, Vietnamese suppliers like Vietfeeds do rigorous batch testing and accompany each shipment with a Certificate of Analysis (COA).

This traceability promise has provided the international feed buyers with the confidence they require when sourcing from Vietnam.

Competitive pricing and stable year-round supply

The availability of peanut meal is constant over the year since it is a by-product of the peanut oil industry that is expanding in Vietnam. Moreover, labor and logistics are relatively cheaper than in India or China, so Vietnam would provide more competitive export prices, without having to sacrifice quality.

Towards the end of 2024, Vietnamese peanut meal was quoted at USD 370420 per ton FOB, with similar Indian meal priced at USD 430460 per ton. To bulk buyers or distributors, such a difference in costs amounts to great savings per year.

Partnering with Vietfeeds: Your trusted peanut meal supplier

Vietfeeds has gained experience in exporting raw feed materials over the years and has developed close relationships with the processors in the main production regions of Vietnam.

The company’s advantage lies in:

• Direct sourcing from verified processors
• Competitive prices from farm to port
• COA for each shipment
• Consistent year-round supply
• Fast communication and professional export support

Vietfeeds offers global manufacturers and distributors of feed suppliers the chance to have a stable and high-quality peanut meal producer that will provide them with an opportunity to blend local knowledge with international standards.

Conclusion

The peanut meal sector in Vietnam provides a unique combination of quality, cost-effectiveness, and consistency- three components that make up the vision of Vietfeeds toward its international clients.

Since the global feed industry is still expanding its range of protein sources, Vietnamese peanut meal will have an increasingly significant role to play in the industry, and Vietfeeds is willing to distribute it to global markets.