Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production systems in the world. This growth is helping to drive increasing demand for long chain omega-3s.
SAN FRANCISCO & WHITE PLAINS, US: TerraVia and Bunge Limited said that they have launched a sustainable specialty feed ingredient, AlgaPrime DHA for the aquaculture market, which currently uses approx $3 billion in omega-3 ingredients.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a long chain omega-3 fatty acid that is a critical element for humans and animals, including fish, for healthy growth and development.
AlgaPrime DHA will be produced at the companies’ SB Renewable Oils joint venture facility in Brazil, where full product scale-up was reached in late 2015. The joint venture partners will act as exclusive distributors for AlgaPrime DHA.
TerraVia and Bunge also announced that they have reached a definitive commercial supply agreement with one of the world’s largest aquaculture feed suppliers. Under the supply agreement, AlgaPrime DHA is slated to begin incorporation into fish feed for salmonids in the July-August 2016 timeframe.
“We’re excited to build on our experience in the food and feed ingredients industries to bring a new, sustainable and value added source of DHA to the market at the quality, cost and scale the global aquaculture industry needs,” said Soren Schroder, CEO, Bunge Limited.
“AlgaPrime DHA is our first major new product from the expanded joint venture with Bunge and could be a real game-changer in keeping our oceans healthy by offering a non-marine based, sustainable source of omega-3s to help address the growing ‘fish in, fish out’ problem today. It provides a far more sustainable non-fish based source of DHA to help maintain healthy oceans while improving the nutritional value of seafood for our families,” said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO, TerraVia.
Long chain omega-3s such as DHA and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are critical inputs used extensively in aquaculture feed, with fish oil and meal as their main sources. Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production systems in the world, a market that is estimated to reach $200 billion annually by 2020. This growth is helping to drive increasing demand for long chain omega-3s, particularly as global supplies of the traditional sources, fish oil and meal, are under serious and increasing pressure from overfishing, quotas and rising demand for human and animal nutrition.
“Aquaculture is becoming an increasingly important contributor to the global food system. To meet the continuing growth in demand for fish oil and fish meal, sustainable alternatives are needed. We are eager to see sustainable sources of omega-3 rich oils come to market at scale and reduce pressure on scarce marine resources,” said Piers Hart, aquaculture policy officer, World Wildlife Fund, UK.
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