February 23, 2023

Skretting India launches state-of-the-art shrimp and fish feed facility in Surat, India

Skretting, Nutreco's global aquafeed division, has opened a state-of-the-art production facility for shrimp and fish feed in Mangrol, Surat, India.

The newly set up high-end facility is part of Skretting's commitment towards the Indian aquaculture sector and its strategy to further develop in Asia.

The facility was inaugurated on February 13 by Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, India's Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Michiel van Erkel, Agriculture Counsellor for India and Sri Lanka (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) was also present at the opening.

Spread over an area of 20,000 sq mt and built with an investment of €18.5 million, 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, among others.

The Mangrol facility has three production lines with a production capacity of 50,000 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," Dr. Saurabh Shekhar, general manager of Nutreco South Asia, said. "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."

"The factory is key to achieving our purpose of Feeding the Future in growth territories of Asia and India," Jurriën Zandbergen, managing director of Nutreco Asia, said. "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.  The 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."

Nutreco has growth plans to expand its footprint in South Asia as it actively looks for companies that can support the purpose of "Feeding the Future" via NuFrontiers, its strategic innovation and investment department. Through NuFrontiers, Nutreco has invested strategically in start-ups globally, including  Internet of Things (IoT) enterprises such as Eruvaka and Stellapps.

"We strongly believe that innovation and digitalisation are the future for sustainable development in aquaculture," Therese Log Bergjord, chief executive officer of Skretting, said. "That is why we invest €20 million annually on innovation looking for nutritional solutions to address the main challenges in the different regions in which we operate.

"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."

- Skretting