The zero-waste facility in Blair, Nebraska, USA, was completed in May ahead of schedule and is ready to ramp up for full production.
In a press release today, Veramaris states that it has started commercial-scale deliveries of its algal oil. “The Veramaris oil is a scalable and reliable alternative source of EPA and DHA, the two marine omega-3 fatty acids proven to be essential for good health, for both fish and humans,” it wrote.
Veramaris celebrated the opening of its new facility in the presence of Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, local authorities, Feike Sijbesma and Christian Kullmann, the CEOs of the Veramaris parent companies DSM and Evonik.
Veramaris runs its USD200 million facility with proprietary technology. The intellectual property behind the production technology, the algae strain Schizochytrium ssp. and the downstream processes are protected by patents.
In response to the aquaculture industry’s call for novel and sustainable sources of EPA and DHA, the company said that its production capacity is equivalent to 1.2 million tonnes of wild-catch fish. “This will meet around 15 percent of the entire salmon farming industry’s annual demand for EPA and DHA – providing a significant contribution to conserving the biodiversity in our oceans and reducing pressure on marine wild catch fisheries,” it wrote.
