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The $ 200 million plant located in the city of Blair, Nebraska, in the US Midwest, began production this week of an algae-based oil that according to its owners , could help solve one of the most delicate problems facing the aquaculture sector, estimated at $ 180 billion.
Agriculture has increased fish stocks while ocean stocks are depleting and consumer demand is increasing. However, the sector is largely dependent on the grinding of wild catches such as anchovies and herring to make foods containing oils rich in omega-3 fatty acids, essential for the production of fish as nutritious as salmon. Attempts to replace plant-based alternatives have resulted in lower omega-3 levels.
Enter two powers of the European chemical industry: Royal DSM NV of the Netherlands and Evonik Industries AG in Germany. The companies have put aside their rivalries to create the Nebraska joint venture called Veramaris. They say that it will produce enough seaweed oil, along with the two necessary types of omega-3 fatty acids, to meet 15% of the annual demand coming from the seafood. 39, a $ 1.5 billion global salmon farming industry. This would replace 1.2 million tonnes of wild fish that would have been intended for animal feed – the equivalent of the annual catch of the Mediterranean Sea.
"It's absolutely huge, it's one of the most exciting things that's happened for a very long time," said Jacqueline Claudia, executive director of Love The Wild, a provider of fish dishes Frozen ready-to-cook salmon like maple mustard at Whole Foods and other supermarkets. The company is committed to using only sustainable fish and Claudia buys from a network of 15 farmers, some of whom are already working with herbal oils.
DSM and Evonik have built the plant in Nebraska because of the corn abundance in the state and the experience of industrial fermentation. The company's omega-3 fatty acids, which provide nutritional benefits to oil, are produced by combining corn and sugar in steel tanks intended for fermentation with seaweed.
"It's relatively simple to replace fishmeal," said Karim Kurmaly, head of the company. Replacing fish oil is the most difficult step. "If you are able to replace fish oil as we are, we can now produce vegetarian salmon, a diet totally free of fish-based ingredients."
The first customers of Veramaris will be salmon farmers based in Norway, the world's largest producer and first to stop giving antibiotics to their farmed fish. Chilean fish farmers are the next target, he said.
The challenge for Veramaris will be to make its investment profitable, as one competitor has found. Two years ago, the Dutch manufacturer of enzymes and vitamins Corbion NV bought out a bankrupt Brazilian company also producing seaweed oil for fish feed. The production of a product containing an omega-3 fatty acid is now intensifying, as opposed to both of the Veramaris version.
It is difficult to get fish farmers to start using seaweed products. Fish-rich omega-3 oils sell for about US $ 2.3 per kilogram, compared to US $ 4 per kilogram for one kilogram of product. Corbion oil is used as a supplement in fish feed rather than to completely replace fish oil. In the absence of a collapse in the global fishing industry, the price could prevent seaweed alternatives from becoming the norm for years.
Even with Veramaris, Corbion and other producers like Cargill Inc., aquaculture will probably never be 100% based on plants, said Scott Nichols, founder of Food & Food's consulting firm. s Future.
"The harvests are likely to continue and probably relentless," he said, noting that the wild fish meal was also served. "The addition of these other producers allows us the expansion of aquaculture."
Veramaris declined to discuss prices, but margins of up to 25% could be achievable, said DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma in an interview. Production at the Nebraska plant will increase in the second half of the year and the total proceeds from this badet could be around $ 200 million a year once it is fully operational, he added.
DSM has already been successful in providing algae-based fatty acids for the highly regulated infant formula market. She acquired the technology through the purchase of a billion dollars of Martek in 2010.
"We are leading the pack because, in summary, we can not see a similar product on the market," said Christian Kullmann, CEO of Evonik, in an interview. "And do not forget about pet food, the potential opportunities are huge for this product."
This article was written by Ellen Proper and Deena Shanker, journalists for Bloomberg.
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