Alternatives to antibiotics, both as AGPs and therapeutics, are often seen as too costly, so they are only applied when governments or end consumers place stringent demands on producers. However, in terms of return on investment, good antibiotic alternatives deliver much more than disease management. Susanne Kirwan, Valentine Van Hamme, Stef de Smet and Mauro di Benedetto at Kemin Europa explain how healthy flock antibiotics deliver no value but ABA still bring benefits.