Leading industry experts Förde Garnelen, Aquafeed Germany, Protix, neomar and Crusta Nova have joined forces to launch a new shrimp feed: SHR EX. The feed has been exclusively designed for the needs of European land-based shrimp farms as they increasingly move towards greater sustainability. SHR EX replaces marine proteins with locally produced insect protein from a circular process. The product, which will be sold by Aquafeed Germany, is more sustainable since initial research shows a significant improvement in shrimp growth and survival rates, the companies said.
Land-based farming, away from coastal areas, is a sustainable alternative, built around the concept of local production. It improves the growth and survival rate of shrimp and maintains shrimp welfare. However, it requires feed tailored for the demands of the shrimp and its farmers. Land-based shrimp producers increasingly want to create feed produced with locally sourced ingredients in response to the growing consumer demand for sustainability. Moreover, the feed needs to be healthy and taste good.
The partners worked closely together to develop SHR EX, using the black soldier fly produced by Protix in the Netherlands as the insect protein source. Crusta Nova and Förde Garnelen are implementing insect meal in their specially developed land-based shrimp feed for the first time in Europe.
Shrimp farming at Crusta Nova.
Bert Wecker, CEO of neomar and Förde Garnelen, said that “the development of our own feed has brought a significant improvement in the growth and survival rate of our shrimp. At the same time, it allows us to obtain our raw materials from regional sources, making our local shrimp farming even more sustainable. The cooperation with Protix and the use of insect meal produced in Europe is an important strategic step on this journey.”
Michel van Spankeren, business developer at Protix, said that “local farming makes the best sense when you use local raw materials, preferably in circular production. Protix’s products enable the local circular economy to thrive.”
SHR EX heralds a major step towards the large-scale local supply of sustainable and healthy feed for shrimp farmed on land. This is just the beginning of an exciting future that will see further innovations. Through continued analysis and batch testing, the partners aim to increase the level of insect protein in the future and introduce further improvements to this specialist land-farmed shrimp feed.
This milestone has been reached only through a partnership approach and a shared mindset that values the power of the earth’s natural resources. This collaboration across the value chain brings together multiple crucial innovations in shrimp farming and feed and means that consumers in Europe can now reap the rewards of sustainably farmed shrimp.
