"Our early investment in innovation and raw material development is paying off," said Carlos Diaz, CEO of BioMar.
Photo: BioMar.
BioMar presented its 2024 Sustainability Report yesterday. "We have had an impressive sustainability year. Proving that being sustainable is not only the right thing to do but also makes good business sense," summarized Carlos Diaz, CEO of the BioMar Group, commenting on the results. Other results, the earnings reported in Q4 seem to prove him right as, despite lower volume, were the best-ever for a fourth quarter.
"Our early investment in innovation and raw material development is paying off, and we will likely see an escalation in the production of alternative materials in the coming years," Diaz continued his assessment.
For the time being, in 2024, the Danish aquaculture feed specialist achieved a new milestone by reporting a historic Forage Fish Dependency Ratio (FFDR) of 0.37, which marks a record-low in the company's history. However, it warns: "the ever-changing market conditions for raw materials might make it challenging to sustain this position over time."
In the note announcing its sustainability results for the past year, BioMar stated that the historic advance in FFDR reported was possible thanks to the innovative use of alternative ingredients and trimmings, which now represent 55% of the total marine ingredients used by the company.
In 2024, 27% of its feed ingredients were circular and/or restorative, moving toward its goal of 50% by 2030. Not only that, but last year, BioMar's innovation portfolio evaluated a record number of alternative raw materials.
Microalgae are one of those alternative ingredients that the Danish company has been betting on for years. In 2023, one of its studies - published in the Journal of Aquaculture - demonstrated that completely replacing fish oil with algal oil in salmon feed is possible without detrimental effects on salmon performance and with benefits for human health and the environment.
The 2024 Sustainability Report highlighted that last year, the company produced almost 1 million tons of aquafeed with microalgae. This represents around 70% of BioMar's total aquaculture feed volume and, according to the company, highlights its commitment to decoupling feed supply chains from directly competing with food for human consumption and reducing the dependency on wild stocks.
In addition, last year, BioMar began its journey towards ASC Feed Certification with five factories certified in 2024. These are the plant in Ecuador, dedicated to the production of high quality feed for shrimp; the one in Grangemouth, Scotland (UK), which produces feed for salmon and trout; and its three production plants in Chile -located in Ercilla, Pargua and Castro-, dedicated to the production of feed for Atlantic salmon, coho salmon and trout. It has seven more in the pipeline for 2025.
Once again, in 2024 BioMar reaffirmed its commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of its feed by one-third by 2030. To date, by applying a life cycle analysis approach that measures emissions per ton of feed produced, the company has managed to reduce them by 14.4% against the 2020 baseline. Its total feed GHG footprint last year was 1.86 tonnes CO₂eq./tonne feed.
At the forefront of emission reductions within the feed industry, the Danish company was the first aquaculture feed company to adhere to the 1.5°C trajectory of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
"We continue to deliver good results on our SBTi carbon reduction targets. This year we have achieved a 20.6% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 23.6% reduction in Scope 3 emissions from the baselines," Vidar Gundersen, Global Sustainability Director at BioMar Group, said now.
In addition, among the 2024 climate action milestones, BioMar also highlighted the incorporation of new verified soy carbon footprint data into its BioSustain LCA tool, as well as the establishment of a framework to further reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
The report also highlights that Schouw & Co. - the Danish industrial conglomerate that wholly owns BioMar - signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Encavis AG to supply renewable electricity, supporting BioMar in meeting its climate targets.
Enable People is the third pillar on which BioMar's sustainability strategy is based. In addition to promoting human and labor rights through initiatives such as responsible remuneration and diversity targets, the company is committed to creating a far-reaching impact on the world through Capacity Building, which, it says, lies at the core of all resilient societies.
The aquafeed company, which aims to directly train 100,000 people a year by 2030, offers training courses and development programs for its employees, customers and communities. In 2024, 49,096 people benefited from these initiatives, approaching half of its goal.
Among the social advances made last year both internally and in its value chain, BioMar highlighted the implementation of new human rights policies on parental leave, health and safety, and compliance with supplier standards. In fact, it achieved a Net Promoter Score - an indicator that measures the satisfaction and loyalty of a company's customers - of 51, which places it in the top 5% of the manufacturing industry.
Moreover, the company achieved 99.9% compliance with its goal of ensuring a living wage for its entire workforce, an all-time high for the company. Regarding its new equal pay framework, BioMar said that the methodology and transparency structure are ready for implementation.
Finally, it noted that more women were promoted in 2024 relative to their percentage of the workforce. Initiatives were launched to inspire women to build a career in science and aquaculture, promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry.
"We have successfully embedded a sustainability mindset across the company, from R&D to commercial teams worldwide. Of course, we can do more, but we are very happy with our progress," CEO Carlos Diaz concluded.
