Netherlands-based shrimp importer Klaas Puul is teaming up with Skretting and feed ingredient suppliers Protix and Veramaris to supply supermarkets across Europe with more sustainable shrimp produced in Latin America. Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and part of global retailer Ahold Delhaize, is the first retailer to commit to the project in line with its strong GHG emissions targets and broader sustainability agenda.
“It’s an exciting moment for Klaas Puul, which is taking its role in the shrimp supply chain to the next level by helping global retail organizations meet their environmental sustainability ambitions. Working with partners like Nutreco/Skretting, Veramaris and Protix show us how instrumental we can be in bringing more sustainable shrimp products to consumers across Europe,” said Alan Dale, CEO of Sykes Seafood and Ruskim in the UK, and Klaas Puul in the Netherlands.
Through this initiative, Skretting Ecuador will produce a new feed that will partly replace two ingredients, fishmeal and fish oil, increasing diversity and flexibility and reducing the marine footprint in feed formulation. The fishmeal will be partially replaced by Protix’s insect meal, made from black soldier fly larvae, which recently achieved excellent sustainability scores in an independent Life Cycle Assessment. The fish oil will be partially substituted by Veramaris’s MSC/ASC-certified algae oil. One hundred percent of the remaining marine ingredients will be sourced from seafood processing byproducts, and all will be traceable back to MarinTrust-accredited fisheries in Ecuador.
The soy in the feed will be sourced from deforestation-free and land-conversion-free origins, making the feed proposition a significant improvement in terms of environmental responsibility compared with most conventional shrimp feeds on the market today. This feed will be used by Klaas Puul’s suppliers in Latin America to produce sustainable shrimp for Albert Heijn and, in the future, possibly other retailers in dedicated ponds in Latin America.
“This initiative is a great example of putting our purpose of Feeding the Future into action. Working closely with Nutreco’s corporate sustainability director, José Villalón, Skretting Ecuador will deliver one of the most sustainable farmed shrimp feeds on the market today. This will help us meet the targets of our Sustainability RoadMap 2025, particularly ensuring 5-10% inclusion of novel ingredients in feed formulations. We are proud of being part of this value chain collaboration that will move the needle forward to bringing a sustainable solution to end consumers,” said Carlos Miranda, general manager of Skretting-Ecuador.
Over the next three years, the consortium partners will continue to improve the feed formulation according to their own sustainability goals, drawing on developments within the field of shrimp nutrition, while also adjusting to the rapidly changing ingredient market. Over time, the consortium will increase the inclusion rates of insect meal and algae oil and look at other options to further reduce dependency on marine ingredients. The consortium will also guarantee that all shrimp are produced from unablated broodstock and is ASC certified.
