AKRANES, ICELAND — With an comprehensive qualifications in canned seafood items for individuals, Akraborg is hoping to leverage its functions to extend its business enterprise into pet nourishment. The company presently provides complementary pet meals products, but has higher hopes that its sustainable functions, optimized source chain and large-high-quality formulations will pave the way for customers trying to get a lot more sustainable and healthier pet food formulas.
Founded in 1989, Akraborg is the world’s largest manufacturer of top quality-excellent canned cod liver goods for models and private labels during the globe. Lýsi, the world’s major producer of thoroughly refined fish oils for individuals, owns a bulk stake in the company, while continually looking at new options for its oils inside the pet section. Officer operates as the company’s element operator, providing marketing and advertising and profits abilities.
Akraborg was established in 1989 and generates canned seafood merchandise for human usage. (Supply: Akraborg)
“We see ourselves as pretty current market pushed and we’re extremely superior at scaling up,” said Rasmus Thomsen, enterprise development and sales manager at Officer. “If you glimpse at our background in cod liver, we commenced as a compact organization and acquired quite fantastic by investing in the ideal tools, know-how and technological innovation to promote our canned seafood all around the planet.”
In accordance to Thomsen, Akraborg and Officer are hoping to do the same in just pet foodstuff.
Akraborg operates two amenities in Akranes and Ólafsvík, Iceland, as perfectly as a pet nutrition facility, which recently opened in 2021. Situated wall to wall with the facility in Akranes, the state-of-the-art pet meals facility characteristics the identical output processes for Akraborg’s canned seafood goods.
The goal-developed pet food facility properties superior-pace machines, boasting an hourly capability of 5,000 models of solution and a latest annual ability of 10 million pouches. It can handle many packing dimensions from 60 to 300 grams (about 2.12 to 10.58 oz) and can offer pet food stuff products and solutions in lithographic doypacks and shelf-completely ready exhibit containers.
With worldwide pet possession skyrocketing and consumer desire for extra higher-quality products growing, Akraborg noticed an prospect to place its capabilities to the check with comprehensive-and-well balanced pet nutrition, even though also contributing to sustainability.
Akraborg’s pet foodstuff facility has an hourly capability of 5,000 models. (Source: Akraborg)
“The world’s escalating population is in want of proteins, and we see a feasible way of manufacturing human-quality top quality pet meals merchandise based on clean fish materials that have been previously frozen and downgraded top quality intelligent,” Thomsen stated.
Sustainable functions
Akraborg’s operations are created with sustainability leading of intellect. From materials souring to production, the company’s objective is to give substantial-high quality items based mostly on clean uncooked materials though cutting down its effect on the natural environment.
Beginning with its provide chain, Akraborg makes use of secondary source streams, like those people for cod liver which once would or else be squandered, to produce its canned seafood solutions for people.
“Our majority operator, Lýsi, is by considerably the major fish oil producer in Iceland,” Thomsen discussed. “They use fish goods from all about Iceland and Akraborg use the liver from the cod fisheries.
“We do not acquire the major uncooked content from the fishermen, we invest in the secondary,” he included. “It’s not secondary quality, but [fishermen] really don’t go out to sea to catch cod liver, they go out to capture the cod and we acquire the liver. The mentality in our group [of companies] is all about complete utilization.”
Akraborg’s uncooked supplies are sourced from different regional suppliers all through Iceland, from big fisheries and little boats to gutting stations. Due to the fact of its proximity to a variety of fisheries and suppliers, Akraborg doesn’t need to depend on frozen seafood products. In point, the business strictly works by using refreshing supplies to decrease its energy usage.
“Our way of thinking is intent on recognizing the greatest excellent out of the uncooked products that are available from catch and manufacturing,” Thomsen shared. “This goes all the way back again to operating with the fishermen on how to maintain, pack and shop our uncooked supplies on the fishing vessels, to minimizing the whole time in our provide chain before the solution is created and packed.”
The corporation doesn’t just count on regional suppliers to minimize its environmental footprint it also makes certain that its provides appear from additional eco-helpful means.
“The cod we use is all sustainable authorised by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), whereas the trout and salmon are equally farmed beneath sustainable and environmentally centered amenities,” Thomsen shared.
The firm’s pet meals facility boasts many certifications. (Supply: Akraborg)
In accordance to Thomsen, the pet food aspect of the organization will make even even further use of Akraborg’s secondary provide chain, advancing the company’s ambitions for full usage of its uncooked resources.
“Our uncooked products are hardly ever the principal item from the fish, so our utilization element is the most sustainable element [of our operations],” he mentioned. “Fresh is a key word, as we never use frozen raw elements in which strength has been utilised to freeze products, and our uncooked supplies are all neighborhood.
“We consider it is our duty to make the most out of each individual kilogram of fish that is caught or farmed, and we imagine in generating products and solutions from fresh new uncooked substance in the site where by the uncooked substance originates, utilizing the cheapest amount of CO2 doable,” he included.
The Icelandic spot of Akraborg’s pet food facility also aids in the company’s environmental plans. According to Thomsen, Iceland is at this time a person of the “frontrunners of the world when it will come to green electrical power,” such as geothermal energy, wind electricity and hydropower, some of which the facility makes use of to produce its merchandise.
“About 85% of the overall key vitality provide in Iceland is derived from domestically created renewable strength sources,” Thomsen claimed. “This is the best share of renewable strength in any countrywide overall energy price range. Developing pet food in a place like Iceland, exactly where we play a part of cutting down the use of CO2 to feed the animals of the entire world, can make us certain that we are on the proper path and in the correct area.”
High-high-quality, qualified formulations
Although Akraborg is now producing complementary soaked pet meals products and solutions, the organization hopes to enter the concluded-and-well balanced segment of the industry in 2023. By Officer, Akraborg will make, promote and current market its pet foods to non-public labels through Europe.
Akraborg at present utilizes Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, redfish and Atlantic trout to formulate its pet nourishment products and solutions. According to Officer, the Atlantic cod and redfish are wild caught in Iceland and the Atlantic salmon and trout are farmed. These species of fish boast lots of wellbeing positive aspects, like a reduced concentrations of calories and body fat and a significant quantities of Omega 3 fatty acids.
By utilizing the very same components for its complementary products and solutions, Akraborg’s full pet foods will also have the exact same significant-good quality attributes, according to Thomsen.
To make its pet foodstuff merchandise, Akraborg programs to leverage the similar provide chain it takes advantage of to manufacture its human seafood items. (Resource: Akraborg)
“The excellent issue about our complementary goods is that they are 100% all-natural, grain-no cost and based mostly on 96% to 99% refreshing single protein fish supply,” he spelled out. “This makes our solutions exceptional, significant-high-quality, simply digestible and wealthy in Omega 3 fatty acids.”
Not only are Akraborg’s pet meals merchandise high-quality and developed to assure sustainability, but they are also manufactured with foods safety in brain. The company’s pet food stuff facility carries many certifications, together with these from the United States Foodstuff and Drug Administration (Food and drug administration), the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Global Featured Typical (IFS Foods). These certifications also let the organization to sector its pet food items items as human-quality.
“Recently, our pet meals generation was additional to our IFS-7 Food certification where we realized a greater-degree quality,” Thomsen reported. “We are large believers that top quality certifications are really vital in a turbulent globe. Also, we believe that that it is crucial to have an formidable company local weather action program, so that both equally pets and consumers can appreciate our goods with self-confidence and superior conscience.”
Like its human seafood and complementary pet goods, Akraborg hopes to consist of an elevated level of high-good quality seafood ingredients to increase its pet meals products’ overall protein material.
“We did a very similar matter in the human sector we boosted the real fish articles in nicely know price-additional products and solutions and that seriously boosted our product sales and sector consciousness,” Thomsen shared. “That’s a thing we’re hoping to search into [for pet food].”
Buyer developments fueling the foreseeable future
Alongside its know-how in human foodstuff producing, Akraborg’s entrance into pet food items is also becoming fueled by buyer need all over Europe and close to the globe. In accordance to Thomsen, pet parents throughout Europe are seeking food items items produced with renewable electricity and extra sustainably sourced materials, and this will be related for what is bought for their pets as well.
“Awareness from pet owners… is finding bigger and larger to get sustainable and to acquire merchandise with a very low carbon footprint,” he shared.
In expanding its pet diet organization, Akraborg options to thoroughly utilize its raw resources, selling sustainability. (Supply: Akraborg)
“We are experiencing an vitality disaster all over in Europe, so it can make it pretty exciting to generate in Iceland,” Thomsen additional. “Eighty-five percent of all electrical power, such as heat, drinking water and gasoline, is renewable in Iceland, so we have an edge right now, also maintaining balance in thoughts. But, at the identical time, we also see an chance in branding and our customer’s branding to mention that we are truly making use of renewable power and trying to keep carbon footprint down”
Akraborg is also eyeing other opportunities to extend its get to all over the world.
“Our purpose is to raise our market in Europe, but certainly to also enter the US marketplace,” Thomsen mentioned. “Since our factory is currently Food and drug administration-authorized and we currently export our canned cod liver to the United States, we see this as a normal upcoming move.”
Thomsen shared the enterprise will hold optimizing its provide chain by searching for much more ways to absolutely utilize raw components and progress its sustainable functions, whilst also catering to its latest buyers.
“Firstly, our target is to improve our marketplace by means of new and present shoppers on the complementary variety that we do right now,” he reported. “But we are seeking into what other options our neighborhood raw elements are capable to give us by making use of secondary raw materials in primary top quality.”
As Akraborg continues to scale up and enhance its recent creation, the business carries on to examine much more chances in pet nutrition, which includes treats, to support its buyers provide better-high-quality products and solutions to customers.
“We see a development of making far better pet food stuff products that are eco-helpful and not pushing the protein requires of the environment, and we want to guidance that,” Thomsen concluded.
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