Hailia Quality Manager Minna Kaunisto, Production Director Taina Lahtinen, CTO Otto Kaukonen and CEO Michaela Lindström.
Photo: Hailia.
Hailia, a Finnish company which is pioneering the transformation of fish processing sidestreams into sustainable food products, has signed its first licensing agreement with Finnish rainbow trout farmer Kalavapriikki. The collaboration will see Hailia’s innovative technology integrated directly into Kalavapriikki’s production facility in Kuopio, Finland.
The agreement follows the successful launch of a pulled rainbow trout product in August, developed using sidestreams from Finnish rainbow trout. The product, which debuted with Finnish retailer S Group, sold 36,000 units in its first month.
"Our goal has always been to create sustainable food solutions from Finnish fish, and Hailia’s technology allows us to push the boundaries even further. By turning sidestreams into convenient food products for everyday use, we’re maximizing the value of our resources and setting a new standard for responsible seafood production together,” said Jari Korhonen, CEO of Kalavapriikki, in a press release.
“Kalavapriikki is leading the way in sustainable fish processing, and after a year of working together, we truly appreciate and see their role as a pioneer in the industry. Just three months after we launched our first product together, they are taking the leap and implementing our technology in their production facility. That says everything about how forward-thinking they are as a company. They not only “talk the talk, but also walk the walk”, when stating that sustainability and carbon neutrality drive their work,” said Michaela Lindström, CEO of Hailia.
Kalavapriikki now plans to scale up production, doubling its capacity to 4,000 tonnes by 2025, employing Hailia's technology to further utilize sidestreams like fins and frames for human food. The Kuopio facility, equipped with a state-of-the-art automated filleting line, will adopt Hailia’s technology by early 2026.
Hailia says its technology addresses a significant inefficiency in fish processing, where nearly half of a fish’s weight is discarded after filleting. These sidestreams, rich in nutrients and protein, are traditionally used for non-food products like animal feed or fish oil, but Hailia's technology enables their conversion into high-value, human-grade food products.
Recent calculations by Hailia, using Biocode's carbon footprint tools, reveal that sidestream-based rainbow trout products can have a carbon footprint as low as 0.6 kg CO₂ per kilogram of food. This figure is comparable to plant-based proteins and significantly lower than any primary animal protein, the company claims.
“We knew that the carbon footprint of seafood products made from sidestreams would be very small, but we were positively surprised that these products produce as small a footprint as many plant-based proteins. This study clearly shows that to meet global food demand and cut carbon emissions, sidestreams not used for human food need to end up on our dinner plates instead,” Lindström said.
