Aker BioMarine, the Norwegian biotech company and the world's leading supplier of krill, has officially opened its cutting-edge protein production plant in Ski, Eastern Norway.
The NOK 300 million plant (USD 28 million / EUR 26 million) will start production next week of human-grade protein made from residual raw materials from krill.
In a LinkedIn post announcing the opening, CEO Matts Johansen described it as "an important milestone for Aker BioMarine's business."
"We have been working on this project for the past 7 years, travelling around the world, collecting knowledge and experience, developing processes and products and finally building a factory here in Norway," he wrote.
The project seeks to capitalise on unused biomass obtained from krill processing. The new plant, which is the first of its kind, will develop and scale up the production process of high-quality protein based on residual raw materials from Aker BioMarine's krill products. The plant will also allow for the further processing of other raw materials going forward.
"The sea is crucial for us to be able to meet the challenges we see in today's food systems in the future, and further development of marine raw materials must take place in a safe and sustainable way. With this pioneering project, we are facilitating the use of new biomasses which will be important to cover future needs for new protein sources," said Christine Strømhylden Lunder, head of the protein initiative at Aker BioMarine, in a Norwegian language statement.
"With cultivated land on all sides, in the agricultural municipality of Ski, we will draw the contours of the next generation of aquaculture industries," said Johansen.
"It may seem like an unusual choice of location for a fishing venture like this, but for us Ski was the obvious choice. It is a strategic location in close proximity to key players in our ecosystem. For example, we have the university of life sciences and the research environments at NMBU in close proximity, and it is also not far from our head office at Fornebu. Innovation is not something you do in isolation, it happens together with others – and with this location we are close to our good partners," he said.
"We are building on Aker BioMarine's cutting-edge expertise, the processing of krill, and will open up more opportunities – for us and other players – in the future. With old knowledge we find new solutions," Johansen added.