Sustainable protein ingredient for feed

Global fish stocks are not enough to feed the growing human population, although the demand for the fish is thriving. Aquaculture, fish farming is growing at a rapid rate to fill the need for fish, which fish stocks cannot provide. To maintain the growth of aquaculture, an alternative to fish meal to feed the fish is needed, since we cannot produce enough feed for all the fish aquaculture production. There are no commercially viable alternatives to fish meal that can fully replace fish meal. However, food production by-products can be converted to replace the use of fish meal from aquaculture production systems. Our protein powder has 1) > 50% protein content, 2) right composition of amino acids, 3) high solubility of amino acids. Fish feeds are the highest growing feed category in the animal industry. The total market size is 103.67 billion (2017), and the annual growth rate is 10.9%. The market size in the Nordics is about 650 million euros. Our competitive advantages are the low cost of manufacture, excellent feed characteristics, and sustainability of production. The production can be based on food by-products, which amount 400-500 million kilos in Finland. Our approach utilizes the circular economy principle of upcycling. We are capable of increasing the value significantly to low-value by-products. We believe that our innovation will have a central role in feeding the fish and the people in the future.

The outcome of the proposal is commercially viable and will add value for the fish food chain - from pond to plate. The project was succesfull and a start-up company was formed.