Ridley announced some of the recent actions the company is taking to increase growth and exposure of its feed ingredient and complete feed products.

The company has appointed Investec to explore options to accelerate the growth of its Novacq feed ingredient, which has been shown to increase prawn biomass. Ridley is considering a broad range of options, including the potential of a third party investment in the product. 

In Thailand, Ridley expects to include locally produced Novacq in the Chanthaburi feedmill diets for commercial-scale farm use in the second half of 2018. With the approval from Thailand Board of Investment, Ridley is looking to expand the production facility from 14 ponds to 50 ponds in the next twelve months and to commence work on a blending plant in Thailand. 

Ridley also announced an agreement with Tasmanian salmon producer Tassal Group Limited to conduct two salmon feed trials, starting this year and concluding in December 2020. 

The feed trials will utilize Tassal's freshwater nursery facilities, seawater growout infrastructure and husbandry management systems.

"We are delighted to be working with Tassal once more to test our nutritional and production expertise against the equivalent diets provided by Tassal's supplier," stated Tim Hart, Ridley CEO. "We have performed strongly in similar trials conducted in prior years and will be looking for a validation of our salmon feedmilling capabilities, which will be further enhanced with the anticipated mid-2019 commissioning of our new extrusion plant, for which construction has already commenced at Westbury in Tasmania."