Skretting India set to inaugurate its state-of-the-art shrimp and fish feed facility in Surat’s Mangrol

Surat (Gujarat) : Skretting, the Norway-based global leaders in aqua feed and nutrition, is set to inaugurate its state-of-the-art production facility for shrimp and fish feed in Mangrol in Surat district on February 13. The company has invested 18.5 million Euros in Mangrol to cater to the domestic and export markets.

The Netherlands-based Nutreco, leaders in animal and aqua nutrition has set up high-end facility that allows it to further enhance support for its customers and the Indian aquaculture sector.  Nutreco is the subsidiary of SHV Holdings N.V., a family-owned Dutch multinational.

Skretting has been leading the global position in Salmon and Shrimp with 125 years of expertise and innovation driven approach.  Currently it has manufacturing footprints in 18 countries and produce 3 million MT of feed annually for more than 60 species from hatching to harvest.

Gujarat and Maharashtra, according to the company, are the key markets for aquaculture feed in India. Both the states contribute about 700,000 metric tonnes of aquaculture production in the total 1.3 million metric tonnes of the production basket in India.

Gujarat, especially south Gujarat is the focus market where the quality is shrimp is better and bigger in size and good for export. The company will be producing 50,000 metric tonnes of aqua feed per annum valued at Rs 500 crore.

Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, Hon’ble Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Govt. of India and Mr. Michiel van Erkel, Agriculture Counsellor for India and Sri Lanka, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will inaugurate the facility on February 13.

Spread over an area of 20,000 sq mt and built with an investment of Euro18.5 million (Rs. 165 crore approximately), the facility will cater to both shrimp and fish cultures. The shrimp cultures will include white tiger and black tiger, while fish cultures will include Indian major carps, and high-value fish like snakehead, seabass, etc.

The Mangrol facility has three production lines with a production capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes per annum. It can produce both extruded/floating and pelleted/sinking feed as per the requirement of the species and customers. There is also adequate land and infrastructure available to increase the production capacity in the future.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of our state-of-the-art production facility at Mangrol in Surat. We have been meeting the needs of shrimp hatcheries, nurseries and farmers since 2018 in India, and supporting customers across feed-farm-health with our high-quality feed and services. The new facility enables us to contribute our bit to the prestigious Atmanirbhar Bharat – Make in India initiative, while simultaneously improving the efficiencies for a closer connect with our customers.  We will cater to the domestic market and also customers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and The Middle East,” said Dr. Saurabh Shekhar, General Manager – Nutreco South Asia..

The facility is equipped to support both sustainability and feed-to-food safety measures, in the line with the company’s philosophy of Nuterra and Nutrace. As part of their sustainability measures under Nuterra program the premises has systems like rainwater harvesting and effluent treatment plant, amongst others. The factory also follows their global feed-to-food safety and quality program Nutrace for end-to-end tracking and traceability with certifies supplier assessments and checks at each critical point.

“The factory is key to achieving our purpose of Feeding the Future in growth territories of Asia and India.  We already have plants in Vietnam, Japan, China, and Indonesia to strengthen our presence in Asia and establishing a state-of-the-art production facility at Mangrol, Surat reinforces our commitment to South Asia and Indian markets.  Construction of the factory started in September 2020, and the work was completed in just over two years despite the various challenges posed by the Covid pandemic. The facility has also generated local employment opportunities with 120 employees. This is just the beginning in our journey to gain a stronger foothold here,” said Mr, Jurriën Zandbergen, Managing Director, Nutreco, Asia

Nutreco has both organic and inorganic growth plans to expand its footprints in South Asia, actively looking for companies that can support their purpose of Feeding the Future via NuFrontiers, the investment arm of Nutreco.  Through NuFrontiers, they have invested strategically in start-ups globally, including the Internet of Things (IoT) enterprises, Eruvaka – for innovations in aquaculture and Stellapps – for improving efficiencies in dairy value chain.

“We strongly believe that innovation and digitalization are the future for sustainable development in aquaculture and livestock.  That is why we invest EURO 25 million annually on innovation looking for next-gen technologies like bacteriophages that can provide solutions to critical health challenges of aquaculture.  At the same time, our digitally enabled solutions like AquaSim and Skretting 360 have been responsible for improving production and transforming aquaculture industry in countries like Ecuador.  With this facility and our stronger footprints, we only aim to replicate some of these success stories in India as well,” said Ms. Therese Log Bergjord, CEO Skretting.

About Nutreco: Nutreco is the global leader in animal and aqua nutrition with headquarters in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. It has two divisions – Trouw Nutrition which is in animal nutrition and Skretting, the global aqua feed and nutrition leaders. With over 125 years of experience, Nutreco’s more than 11,000 dedicated employees in more than 33 countries across the globe relentlessly pursue its purpose of Feeding the Future in a way that ensures sustainability is front and centre in all it does. It has over 4,000 employees in growth geographies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Nutreco’s solutions go beyond nutrition – it provides best-in-class advice and technology to help customers produce more food in a sustainable way to feed the rising population. It produces 9.2 million tonnes of animal products annually through more than 98 production plants in 33 countries. Its NuFrontiers team works to identify, develop and invest in next-generation breakthrough innovations. In 2021, Nutreco had net revenues of € 9.0 billion. It is a subsidiary of SHV Holdings N.V., a family-owned multinational with net sales of € 20 billion in 2021.

About Skretting: Skretting is a global leader in providing innovative and sustainable nutritional solutions and services for the aquaculture industry working closely with shrimp and fish farmers. Skretting has 30 production facilities in 18 countries on five continents and manufactures and delivers high-quality feeds from hatching to harvest for more than 60 species. The total annual production volume of feed is more than 3 million tonnes. It is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway and it employs 4,000 employees. Its team of more than 140 employees is dedicated to Innovation that works on the core competencies of nutrition, feed production and health for aquaculture.

About Skretting India: Skretting India is a subsidiary of Skretting and is headquartered in Hyderabad. It started in India in 2018, recognising the Indian sub-continent and Asia’s critical role in fulfilling the purpose of Feeding the Future. India is among the top 2 producing countries with shrimp exports and the industry is expected to grow at 8-9% per annum. Skretting India’s team works closely with farmers to support their feed, farm, and health requirements. Skretting India goes beyond nutrition and feed with its Aquaspecialty range that supports pond, water, and soil management. For more information, please visit us at: www.skretting.in