They secured the option to acquire 100% of the shares of the company in the European country
Maiken Foods, headquartered in Caspar Storms, Oslo, announced some days ago that has entered into an agreement with Atlantic Sapphire Denmark to lease their land-based fish farm in Langsand. In addition to the important milestone for Maiken Foods the company has secured an option to acquire 100% of the shares in Atlantic Sapphire in the European country.
“This marks the start of our own project with proprietary technology,” said Arve Gravdal, CEO of Maiken Foods.
“During the first half of the year, we will prove that we can achieve stable growth of large salmon right up to market size. Our method combines the best features of traditional cage technology with the advantages of land-based production, while eliminating the biological and environmental challenges that characterize both solutions,” he added.
Innovative and cost-effective technology
Is important to highlight that, in the last years, Maiken Foods has developed an innovative and cost-effective technology that ensures low fish densities and reduces biological risk. A newly developed water treatment unit helps to simplify the recirculation technology.
“We have reduced investment costs by about two thirds compared to traditional recirculation systems,” explained Gravdal, “which allows us to reduce fish densities accordingly, while maintaining a sustainable economy. Another advantage is that the farming tanks are independent of each other, which prevents the spread of infection and allows for new, flexible farming strategies.
Demonstration for the investors
According to the members of Maiken Foods, their technology meets modern requirements for sustainability, fish welfare and environmental considerations, factors that both green investment funds and traditional funds now strongly emphasize.
When the first tank is commissioned in the spring, Maiken Foods plans to invite investors to a demonstration of the technology. At the same time, the company will obtain binding tenders for tanks of different sizes. The aim is to document stable, high-quality production and show that large-scale land-based salmon farming is both possible and sustainable.
Specifically designed
Founded in 2021, Maiken Foods is an aquaculture company based on a new, proprietary technology that will be a game changer in land-based fish farming. Its RAS (Recycling Aquaculture System) consists of individual tanks tailor-made for producing industrial quantities of salmon and cod on land. Tanks can be stocked with 200 grams of juvenile fish to be harvested 6-9 months later. The entire system is automated and enables the company to produce seafood on an industrial scale.
When Norwegian authorities introduced cost-free licenses for land-based salmon farming in 2017, many new and inexperienced players faced challenges in acquiring the technology needed for large-scale salmon production on land.
Gravdal was surprised to see that most companies opted for standardized recirculating aquaculture systems. Based on his experience, he was convinced that this approach would not be viable. This is where Maiken positioned apart. “Our technology is specifically designed to support industrial-scale salmon production on land,” they explain.
While many land-based fish farming companies had adopted centralized RAS systems, Gravdal and a group of industry experts had continued developing Maiken Foods’s Independent Production Units (IPUs)—a simple, reliable, and efficient alternative. With Maiken’s system, juvenile salmon weighing 200-1,200 grams were stocked in the tanks and harvested months later. The entire process was fully automated.
“The cost-efficiency and economic feasibility of Maiken’s technology are highly favorable. We construct individual fish tanks with short build times, allowing us to begin production in the first tank while the next tanks are still under construction. This approach generates early cash flow, significantly reduces project risk, and provides exceptional flexibility in scaling and progress,” they explain.
