String Bio teams up with Skretting Australia for fish feeding trials

Nutreco’s Aquaculture division, Skretting Australia announced recently the start of validation trials for String Bio’s product Pro-DG, a sustainable protein produced from potent greenhouse gasses which will contribute to the sustainability of the aquaculture industry. The aim of these two companies is to deliver sustainable protein to the Australian and New Zealand aquaculture markets. Skretting Australia will validate the new novel ingredient in aquaculture systems through feeding trials held in R&D facilities located across the both countries.

Since 2020, the Nagasandra, Bangalore (India) based company String Bio has been working closely with Skretting’s global team to speed up the process of developing a commercially accessible novel ingredient.

Skretting has recognized the String Bio product as an exciting novel raw material which aligns with their own sustainability target of including 5-10% novel ingredients in feed formulations according to its Sustainability Roadmap 2025.

Skretting is exploring inclusions of ingredients which do not compete with human consumption or that can reduce our carbon footprint; “String Bio’s Pro-DG is a perfect fit for Skretting on both accounts,” they said.

“String Bio’s proprietary fermentation process allows for the conversion of methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, into protein-based solutions.”

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s AR6 report, methane traps around 27 times the amount of heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and is responsible for a third of the global warming.

“Reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest opportunities we have to slow the rate of global warming,” they assured.

A high priority

Skretting Australia’s Marketing Manager, Rhys Hauler comments “We are excited to see the results as novel ingredients are a high priority at Nutreco and very much aligned with our sustainability ambitions laid out in our sustainability strategy, RoadMap 2025.”

For the both companies, this partnership is an example of the biotechnology and aquaculture industries working together towards a more sustainable future and advancing a technology that could contribute to a circular carbon economy.

Skretting is one of the early adopters of this technology and is breaking headway in commercialization of novel ingredients which contribute to the sustainability of the aquaculture industry.

Strategic development agreement

In July 2022, String Bio announced a strategic development agreement with an Australian energy provider. String had previously set up its first multi-purpose gas fermentation facility in Bangalore that can run on methane from both natural gas and biogas.

The current investment and collaboration will enable String to further drive the market growth of its products and strengthen its decarbonization impact.

According to them, String’s vision is to make sustainability market relevant. Towards this, the team at String has built a deep technology platform for production of high-quality ingredients from greenhouse gases, particularly methane.

“String’s goal is to be an end-to end solution provider enabling smooth transition to a carbon friendly economy.”

Leveraging the patented platform, String has enabled alternative proteins, crop inputs, cosmetic ingredients and other value-added ingredients that are significantly performance differentiated from current products in the market. 

In the other hand, Skretting is the global leader in providing innovative and sustainable nutritional solutions and services for the aquaculture industry, with production facilities in 19 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 of the company is more than 2 million tons.”

Skretting is the aquaculture division of Nutreco, a world leader in animal nutrition, and its head office is located in Stavanger, Norway, while Skretting Australia’s head office is based in Cambridge Tasmania and has over 20 years of experience “in delivering excellence to the Australian and New Zealand aquaculture industries”.