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Evonik/DSM JV wins award

28 Oct 2019

The Evonik/DSM joint venture Veramaris has been named the world’s best-selling algae-based omega-3 supplier to aquaculture.

Veramaris won the prestigious “F3 Fish Oil Challenge” for selling the largest amount of omega-3 EPA & DHA and omega-6 fatty acid ARA (arachidonic acid) from natural marine algae over the one-year challenge, thereby conserving the equivalent of 2 billion fish from use in fishmeal and fish oil.

Evonik/DSM JV wins award

The prize was awarded to Veramaris CEO Karim Kurmaly during the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s GOAL conference in Chennai, India.

“Veramaris’ success is a result of our efforts to reunite health and sustainability, while conserving finite natural resources. Innovations such as Veramaris are one of Evonik’s many contributions to the increasing urgency for food system transformation,” said Johann-Caspar Gammelin, Chairman of the Board of Management of Evonik Nutrition & Care.

The “F3 Fish Oil Challenge” is held by “The Future of Fish Feed (F3)”, and was launched in 2015. It forms part of a collaborative effort by the USA’s leading NGOs (The Nature Conservancy, et al), researchers, and private partnerships to accelerate commercial-scale adoption of alternative feed ingredients to reduce the reliance on wild-caught fish.

F3 contestants were required to develop a non-fish alternative to fish oil that contains the essential fatty acids EPA, DHA, and ARA. With an optimal ratio of all three acids needed to meet the nutritional requirements of farmed fish, Evonik claims that Veramaris excels at providing the aquaculture industry with the only commercial-scale source of algal oil containing EPA, DHA, and ARA.

In response to the aquaculture industry’s call for sustainable alternatives, Veramaris was founded by its parent companies DSM and Evonik. By producing a sustainable and scalable source of omega-3 fatty acids from natural marine algae, Veramaris ensures the continued growth of aquaculture. With its world-scale production facility in Blair, Nebraska, USA, which opened in July 2019, Veramaris is ready to supply 15% of the global salmon aquaculture’s annual demand for omega-3 EPA and DHA.

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