HISTORY OF EFI
The Story of Bill Bunnett is the Story of Bypass Fats in the United States
Our Founder
Bill’s story is one of resilience, strength and always standing up for what he believed was right. His trailblazing ideas and dedication to innovation have had a massive impact on shaping the dairy feed industry of today.
The names Bill Bunnett and bypass fats are synonymous – without Bill, bypass fats would not be present in the United States in the same way they are today.
Timeline – A History of Bill Bunnett and EFI
1959
Bill graduated from Cal Poly – Pomona California with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Animal Science.
1959 — 1961
Bill secured a job as an Agricultural Agent for the US Department of Agriculture and moved to rural Nevada. He would tell you that “he didn’t have the exact skills required for the job,” when he started, but his dedication and determination were able to land him the opportunity to succeed.
1961 — 1969
Bill worked as a Commodity Trader and General Manager for Wilbur Ellis. As a Commodity Trader, he traded and sold various major feed ingredients to feed manufacturers and cattle feeding operations throughout the Western United States.
This is where Bill was able to get a deep understanding of the different feed ingredients that were used throughout the industry, like beet pulp, cottonseed products, citrus pulp, and other byproduct animal feeds.
As a General Manager, Bill was responsible for building and establishing cattle mineral supplement plants in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. This is where Bill’s love for process improvement and efficiency really shined.
1969 — 1971
Bill became the Western Region Sales Manager in the Animal Health Division for ChemAgro (Bayer Company).
1971 — 1986
Bill founded Feed Commodities, Inc.
With Bill’s drive and desire to be his own boss, he came up with a new idea. One that would change the cattle feed manufacturing industry – and it was BIG.
Bill designed and invented a new manufacturing process and opened a manufacturing plant in Amarillo Texas, where they manufactured the first suspension supplement product, sold to cattle feed yards and dairy farms.
Bill’s innovation continued as he developed, marketed and sold the first solid molasses feed-blocks to cattle ranchers across the United States.
After 16 years of successful operations and innovation, Bill sold Feed Commodities, Inc. to Pacific Molasses Company, a Tate and Lyle Company.
1972 — Present
The first bypass fats are brought to the United States and sold and marketed by Bill Bunnett.
Bill founded Bunnett & Associates – Bunnett and Company (B&C), a manufacturer’s agency representing sales and distribution of Sodium Bicarbonate, Bypass Fats, Molasses, Feed Binders, Magnesium Oxide, Feed Grade Phosphate, feed flavors, mold inhibitors and microbial products and different mineral supplements for various companies.
The drive for innovation didn’t stop here, he saw an opportunity to bring calcium salt products to the United States and became the first distributor of this industry changing feed ingredient. This first calcium salt product, Megalac, is what kicked off the bypass fat industry and Bill was the first and only one that sold and marketed it. He is the reason that so many bypass fat manufacturers and products exist today.
Bill’s ability to listen and understand the needs of dairy farmers led to his partnership with Tenneco Minerals Company on research with Texas A&M for the development of a new buffer product (Alkaten), which he later took to market.
In 2002, before EFI was founded, Bill began spot buying and importing Palm Oil into the United States and established a pilot manufacturing facility producing MagnaFat in California.
2004 — Present
Energy Feeds International, LLC (EFI) is founded.
EFI was established to be a different kind of animal feed distributor. One that focused on high quality nutrition to ensure health and longevity of the dairy cow, which in turn improved the dairy farm’s overall business.
In partnership with many dairy farmers and notable nutritionists, EFI’s love for innovation and drive for excellence has led to many new ground-breaking product launches and partnerships.
This love of innovation, drive for success and ability to truly listen to the needs of our dairy farmer and nutritionists has also been instilled in Bill’s son J.J. Bunnett, who began working for EFI in 2016.
Together Bill and J.J. paved the way for Bypass Fat and Mineral Innovation until Bill retired in January 2018, when J.J. took over as the Chief Operating Officer and President.
With J.J. as CEO and President, EFI has seen and will continue to see rapid growth and expansion as we become your essential partner in bypass fats and specialty animal feed ingredients.
We can’t wait for you to see what we have in store for you.
