Press release: LARGE INTERNATIONAL FEED ORDER WILL IMPROVE LIFE BELOW WATER
Unibio has signed an agreement with Grupo Blumos, the South American feed and food company, for a large order of Unibio’s sustainable and organic protein for feed – Uniprotein® product. The order is Unibio’s first international order of this magnitude. Grupo Blumos will be one of the first companies to use organic and sustainable protein from Unibio on a large scale for feeding fish and shrimps.
Unibio’s protein for animal feed – branded as Uniprotein® product – is based on fermentation of a microbial culture using methane as feedstock, which makes the protein both organic and highly sustainable. The quality of Uniprotein® product is high, and it can easily replace high-value proteins like prime fishmeal and highly concentrated soy products. The advantages of using Uniprotein® product in a feed mix instead of traditional protein are self-evident – no fish stock depletion, the oceans will not be overfished, no rainforests cut down, and viable and economic use of methane.
“The collaboration with Blumos brings Unibio one step closer to becoming a significant worldwide supplier of low-footprint and environmentally friendly protein. It also demonstrates the need for a fairly priced, high-quality protein product in the market,” Unibio CEO Henrik Busch-Larsen says. “Blumos is a well-known, innovative company, and we are very excited about the value we will add to Blumos’ line of products, and the potential of this collaboration”.
Blumos and Unibio initiated the collaboration last year, focusing on testing Uniprotein® product in fish diets. With the signing of the commercial agreement, the parties are taking the collaboration to the next level.
The use of Uniprotein® product in feed results in high protein digestibility and is expected to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus excretion because of improved nutrient retention. Studies in salmonids and piglets have furthermore shown that Uniprotein® product may improve growth and intestinal health. By inclusion of Uniprotein® product in commercial feeds, the aim is to increase the production potential and animal welfare through improved performance of the tested species.
“We are very impressed with the protein developed by Unibio, and we look forward to distributing Uniprotein® product to our customers in the aqua industry,” says Roberto Blum, CEO of Grupo Blumos. “We have tested the protein on salmon, and the results are very promising, especially the high level of true protein digestibility in salmon”. The production method used to make Uniprotein® product is also a potential game-changer for the feed market. By using Uniprotein® product, the feed industry can become more sustainable while simultaneously helping to feed the world’s growing population without destroying the planet. We have high expectations for the product.”
The first delivery of Uniprotein® product is expected to take place in a few years. Unibio is negotiating with several other investors regarding production facilities in North America, the Middle East, and the Far East.
ABOUT UNIBIO
Unibio, a leading industrial biotech company headquartered in Denmark, has developed a fermentation method for producing a remarkable sustainable, organic and highly concentrated protein for the food and feed markets, decoupling protein production from farming and fishing.
The first (licensed) full-scale plant, built by Protelux, is being commissioned in Russia. The sustainable organic protein will be sold through a network of distributors as well as directly to large key accounts around the world.
ABOUT BLUMOS
Grupo Blumos is based in Chile and is a regional leader in the supply and distribution of specialty ingredients for the food, feed, enology, flavours, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics industries. Founded over 75 years ago, Blumos entered the animal feed market in 2016. It also has companies in Brazil, Peru, and Argentina.
