Falkenberg, Sweden-headquartered industrial investment group Ocean Collective has announced that its blue foods subsidiary Ocean Next is launching a sustainable fish paste made from bones and other fish byproducts.
The product is made through a novel food processing technology, which Ocean Next is accessing through its partnership with Finnish industrial food tech firm Superground. That technology uses fish bones and hard tissues to create fish paste, allowing producers to utilize all of the fish they harvest and increase the nutrient density of value-added products.
"There are several attractive opportunities [for the paste] especially in composed products like fish nuggets, fish burgers, and fish balls that either significantly reduces the costs of the products or increases share of seafood," Ocean Collective Group CEO and Executive Chairman of Korshags Food and Ocean Next Jörgen Bergqvist said in a release.
The product will be commercialized by Ocean Next and brought to market in Nordic nations through industrial suppliers and other Ocean Collective properties, the company said.
“The vision of Ocean Collective and our group of companies is to change the perception of blue food amongst consumers, whilst never compromising on our core beliefs of healthy oceans, and consumer taste and appeal,” said Bergqvist.
“This next step will enable us to scale our business model and explore new regions also outside the Nordics," Superground CEO Jaakko Kaminen said. “In Ocean Collective we have found a like-minded, mission driven, ambitious, yet entrepreneurial partner and we look forward to making [an] impact together."
Ocean Collective was founded in 2023 by Bergqvist and Pernilla and Niklas Korshag. When announcing the new venture on LinkedIn, Bergqvist said that the company’s goal was to “invest in a long-term strategy for growth and transformation toward the next generation of sustainable seafood.”
Since then, Ocean Collective has invested in a number of businesses, including two blue foods businesses: Falkenberg, Sweden-based salmon smoker and premium seafood distributor Korshags and Skvde, Sweden-based Kosterfiskar, another premium distributor.
