Hima Seafood has signed a 5-year contract with Skretting Norway as the main feed supplier for its rainbow trout production that will start in Rjukan (Telemark, Norway) in 2023. The commitment to sustainability from both companies is the key to this long-term contract. "We will be a driving force for new sustainable raw materials", said Sten Falkum, CEO of Hima Seafood. The company will produce 8,000 tons (HOG) of rainbow trout in what will be one of the world's largest land-based facilities for this species.
"It's about taste and sustainability. That is the most important thing for Hima", said Sten Falkum at the announcement of the agreement. "When Skretting was recently named Climate Winner by PwC, it shows that Skretting is the best feed partner to help us optimize the feed so that it can produce the lowest possible footprint. In addition, we will be a driving force for new sustainable raw materials", he added.
According to Hima Seafood's CEO, having a long-term collaboration is important to be able to develop the production and implementation of these new raw materials. "We believe that long-term cooperation is fundamental to bring about a sustainable development that thrives", he said. "That is why we have entered into a 5-year partnership with Skretting, which is a leading star in sustainability".
Skretting, for its part, has expressed its satisfaction at having been chosen as the feed partner for Hima. "We see that our work in developing feed solutions for RAS technology and precise nutrition for rainbow trout as well as our sustainability work, that is now bearing fruit", said Truls Dahl Skretting Norway's commercial director for land-based and closed technology.
"We have a very strong team working with RAS, and Hima has people with extensive experience from salmon and trout farming and extensive RAS experience", he continued. "Together we will optimize the feed for Hima so that they can offer a world-class food product".
Early last August, Hima obtained full financing to build what is considered to be one of the world's largest trout farms. As reported to WeAreAquaculture at the time, the funding came from two global infrastructure funds with a high sustainability focus. In fact, the company chose the Rjukan location (Telemark, Norway) because of its good access to green energy and fresh, high-quality mountain water. 99.3 percent of the water will be recycled in a RAS plant.
The company is still in the process of constructing the 27,000 square meter breeding facility, where the first roe will be introduced in October 2023. They will be provided by Osland Havbruk, recognized as one of the most established trout breeders with unique genetics well suited for land-based production of RAS. Later, Villa Seafood – which is building a packaging plant in the Oslo area – will handle the sales, distribution, and processing of the Hima brand and finished trout products.
