"My impression is that we need to educate the consumers," says lead Nofima researcher, Katerina Kousoulaki.
Photo: Joe Urrutia / Nofima.
A recent study by Nofima, a leading food research institute in Norway, reveals that consumers are hesitant to embrace the use of alternative ingredients such as insects and microalgae in salmon feed.
“The respondents loved eating salmon, but did not know much about the fish”, said project leader, senior scientist Katerina Kousoulaki, who is working on development of sustainable feed options utilising insect and microalgae ingredients are a replacement for fish oil and soy.
Despite the fact that wild salmon naturally consume insects, many consumers are unaware of this and find the idea unpalatable, Nofima researchers point out.
Focus groups conducted with French consumers highlighted a significant knowledge gap and several misconceptions about salmon farming, Kousoulaki explained.
“Everyone was sure that farmed salmon contains lots of antibiotics – which is not correct. They like to eat salmon, but they don’t know much about how it is produced”, she said.
“If you ask people what salmon eat in the wild, many will answer ‘algae’ and ‘shrimp’. However, salmon don’t eat algae, and they don’t eat much shrimp, either. They mainly feed on fish, and upriver they feed on insects."
“Many of the surveyed consumers had a positive attitude towards using algae in fish feed, but did not think that insects were a natural food for the salmon," Kousoulaki added.
Kousoulaki emphasized the need for consumer education to correct these misconceptions and facilitate acceptance of new feed ingredients. "My impression is that we need to educate the consumers," she stated.
François Saulais, an international coordinator for the seafood division at Auchan, a multinational retail group, acknowledged the challenges in consumer knowledge. "Our customers' knowledge about the products they buy is not as good as we would like," he said.
He also highlighted the importance of developing new sustainable feeds to meet the increasing demands of the aquaculture industry over the next 20-30 years.
Sandra Bretagne, a market expert from Insightquest, which conducted the consumer survey, believes that acceptance of algae and insect-based feed will take time and focused communication efforts. "We need to start the communication on a very basic level. Consumers have little knowledge about industrial processes," she explained, drawing a comparison with other consumer products like shampoo.
“Do you know anything about the industrial processes behind the production of shampoo? Very few do. And that’s how it is with the food people eat, too – they tend to have only very superficial knowledge.
The consumer survey, conducted in the autumn of 2023, included 24 French consumers aged 20 to 45, all of whom occasionally buy salmon. The findings underscore the need for a concerted effort to educate consumers about the benefits and sustainability of new feed ingredients, the researchers say.
The Millennial Salmon project, funded by the Research Council of Norway and involving multiple stakeholders, including Sintef Ocean, Mowi, Cargill, Innovafeed, Corbion, Labeyrie Fine Foods, and Auchan, is exploring how black soldier flies and microalgae can replace fish oil and soy in salmon feed.
These alternatives may require less space and environmental resources compared to traditional feed ingredients, the researchers say. To assess this, the research project includes conducting a life cycle analysis to assess the environmental impact of these new feed technologies.