Norwegian Firm- ‘Skretting’ to Open New Shrimp & Fish Feed Facility in Gujarat

The newly established high-end facility allows Nutreco, a division of the Netherlands-based Nutreco, leaders in animal and aqua nutrition, to further enhance support for its customers and the Indian aquaculture sector. SHV Holdings N.V., a family-owned Dutch multinational, owns Nutreco.

Skretting, with 125 years of expertise and an innovative approach, has led the global position in Salmon and Shrimp. It currently has manufacturing footprints in 18 countries and produces 3 million MT of feed per year for over 60 species from hatching to harvest. On February 13, 2023, Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy, Govt. of India, and Michiel van Erkel, Agriculture Counsellor for India and Sri Lanka, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, will inaugurate the facility.

The facility, which will cover an area of 20,000 square metres and cost approximately Euro18.5 million (Rs. 165 crore), will cater to both shrimp and fish cultures. White tiger and black tiger shrimp will be cultured, while Indian major carps and high-value fish such as snakehead and seabass will be cultured. The Mangrol facility has three production lines with a combined annual capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes. It can produce both extruded/floating and pelleted/sinking feed based on the species and customers' needs. There is also enough land and infrastructure to expand production capacity in the future.

"We are excited to announce the opening of our cutting-edge manufacturing facility in Mangrol, Surat. Since 2018, we have been meeting the needs of shrimp hatcheries, nurseries, and farmers in India, and we have been supporting customers across the feed-farm-health spectrum with high-quality feed and services. The new facility allows us to contribute to the prestigious Atmanirbhar Bharat - Make in India initiative while also improving efficiencies for a more direct connection with our customers. "We will serve the domestic market as well as customers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East," Dr. Saurabh Shekhar, General Manager - Nutreco South Asia, said.

In accordance with our Sustainability Road Map 2025 and Nutrace, the facility is equipped to support both sustainability and feed-to-food safety measures. The Nuterra programme includes systems such as rainwater harvesting and an effluent treatment plant as part of their sustainability measures. The factory also adheres to Nutrace's global feed-to-food safety and quality programme for end-to-end tracking and traceability, which includes supplier assessments and checks at each critical point.

"The factory is critical to achieving our goal of Feeding the Future in Asia and India. We already have plants in Vietnam, Japan, China, and Indonesia to strengthen our Asian presence, and establishing a state-of-the-art production facility in Mangrol, Surat, strengthens our commitment to the South Asian and Indian markets. Despite the numerous challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, construction of the factory began in September 2020 and was completed in just over two years. With 120 employees, the facility has also created local job opportunities. "This is just the beginning of our journey to establish a stronger presence in Asia," said Jurrien Zandbergen, Managing Director of Nutreco Asia.

Nutreco has both organic and inorganic growth plans to expand its footprints in South Asia, and is actively seeking companies that can support their mission of Feeding the Future through NuFrontiers, Nutreco's investment arm. They have strategically invested in start-ups around the world through NuFrontiers, including Internet of Things (IoT) enterprises, Eruvaka - for aquaculture innovations, and Stellapps - for improving efficiencies in the dairy value chain.

"We strongly believe that innovation and digitalization are the future for sustainable development in aquaculture and livestock. That is why we invest EUR 20 million per year in innovation in search of next-generation technologies such as bacteriophages that can provide solutions to critical aquaculture health challenges. Simultaneously, our digitally enabled solutions such as AquaSim and Skretting 360 have been instrumental in improving production and transforming the aquaculture industry in countries such as Ecuador. We only hope to replicate some of these success stories in India with this facility and our stronger footprints," said Therese Log Bergjord, CEO Skretting.