Bunge, one of the world’s largest food companies, wants to see optimal results from the feed additives plant it holds as a joint venture with TerraVia in Brazil before making further investments in aquaculture, said Raul Padilla, who heads the company’s massive sugar and ethanol business in Brazil.

The plant has been struggling to reach its capacity and needs to hit production targets before Bunge would consider any other investment, Padilla told Undercurrent News in Buenos Aires. Bunge, the world’s largest producer of vegetable oils, is also on a corporate scale looking to reduce exposure to its sugar business. That entire unit could be sold or spun off into a separate company.

Bunge and TerraVia set up the plant at one of Bunge’s biggest sugar mills in Sao Paulo state and have been working on maximizing output since 2014 when it opened. The plant mixes fermented algae with refined sugar to produce a feed rich in docosahexaenoic omega-3 fatty acid. TerraVia has enjoyed a first mover advantage by getting its AlgaPrime product out into the market first, amid a slew of similar plans announced by competitors including Archer-Midland-Daniels (ADM) and Dutch multinational Royal DSM.

Source: Undercurrent News // Original Article