Novel ingredients are non-traditional raw materials that have not seen widespread use in human consumption or food supply chains. They are often developed as sustainable alternatives to common ingredients, and their role in aquafeed production will only become more important as aquaculture continues to grow. Some examples of novel ingredients used in feed include microalgae, insect meal, and single-cell proteins.  

Microalgae is a great success story that demonstrated the impact novel ingredients can have in aquafeed. Microalgae allow BioMar to go straight to the original source of omega 3s in the ocean and can be used to supplement ingredients such as fish oil in our feed. R&D into microalgae started in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2016 that it was included in a commercial salmon feed. Today, BioMar has sold over 1 million tonnes of salmon feed with microalgae, showing just how important microalgae has become in feed formulation.

However, to fully incorporate novel ingredients into our feed can prove challenging. As novel ingredients have not seen widespread use in human supply chains, they require assessment from different regulators to ensure they are safe for human consumption. Therefore, extensive R&D and testing need to be done to prove they are effective ingredients for both humans and fish. Once proven, it then takes time for the companies producing these novel ingredients to scale up their production to meet commercial demand, meaning they are often limited in availability.

Despite the cost and challenges of incorporating novel feed ingredients into aquaculture, BioMar will continue to invest in sustainable novel ingredients. This is because we care about innovation, and we care about sustainable aquaculture.