A recent announcement by Danish feed giant Aller Aqua alerting the industry of its plans to phase out the purchase of soya from South America for its European factories is part of a drive to minimize the environmental impact of its operations, the company explained.
According to Aller Aqua Group Vice President Henrik Halken, the company is mindful of a growing focus on the less favorable aspects of soya production in South America, such as deforestation. As a result, its feed factories in Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Serbia will all source soya from their local regions in the future. The decision will impact positively on customers seeking sustainable feed, Halken said.
Halken explained that the process started as a soft run in 2019, when the factories replaced 50 percent of their soya requirements with locally-soured supplies. The locations are now confident of achieving a 100 percent target in 2020.
“Our efforts are in line with E.U. initiatives supporting greater production of protein crops, as these will increase our self-sufficiency and reduce imports,” he said.
Aller Aqua is a firm supporter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and regularly reviews its raw material portfolio as part of its environmental commitment. The company recently started to use more by-products in its feed, which is proving to be effective in reducing waste.
A long-time innovator in the aquafeed space, Aller Aqua has also developed a reputation for its functional feeds, which promote growth and survival in fish at all stages of life, and help with disease resistance and prevention.
The company’s latest innovation, Aller Aqua Support, is a series of advanced functional feeds for trout, catfish, carp, tilapia, sturgeon, sea bass, and sea bream. The feeds help to preserve beneficial bacteria in the gut, which can outcompete any pathogenic bacteria present, resulting in healthier fish.
As a result, customers helping to trial the new concept – which was developed at Aller Aqua Research in Germany – have reported excellent long-term results, including more robust fish and lowered feed conversion ratios, Aller Aqua Group R&D Director Hanno Slawski said.
“The Support concept targets disease pressure in aquaculture. Our initial tests showed that we were on to a good concept, and extensive testing to document the effect of the feed on different species and farming systems has confirmed the findings,” Slawski said.
Such news is good for fish farmers, who regularly find themselves having to defend their profession in terms of feed content and origin, and animal health and welfare, Slawski said.
