Skretting India launches state of the art shrimp and fish feed facility in Surat
Skretting, the Norway-based global leader in aqua feed and nutrition, inaugurated its state-of-the-art production facility for shrimp and fish feed in Mangrol, Surat. The high-end facility allows Skretting to further enhance support for its customers and the Indian aquaculture sector. Skretting, a division of The Netherlands-based Nutreco, the leader in animal and aqua nutrition, which is a subsidiary of SHV Holdings N.V., a family-owned Dutch multinational, has manufacturing footprints in 18 countries and produces 3 million MT of feed annually for more than 60 species from hatching to harvest, with global leading position in salmon and shrimp
The facility was inaugurated by Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, Hon’ble Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and Mr. Michiel van Erkel, Agriculture Counsellor for India and Sri Lanka, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Dr. Sanjeev Balyan congratulated the team for their achievement and welcomed the multinational as they bring the global expertise and research for Indian aquaculture development. He also sent the message to the Indian aquaculture industry about the requirement of technology usage for improving productivity and efficiency and promoting domestic consumption to continue our leading position globally.
Mr. Erkelmentioned that just last year they had celebrated 75 years of warm diplomatic relations and that business from the Netherlands finds its way to India.When Nutreco was nominated last year as the most innovative company in animal nutrition by World Finance, they had stated that they want to help farmer’s produce more, strengthen animal’ health and resilience while also looking at sustainable practices. He congratulated Skretting India for the support to Make in India initiative.
Spread over an area of 20,000 sq mt and built with an investment of EUR 18.5 million (
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.
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 will 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 production capacity in the future.
“We are thrilled to launch 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 will enable us to contribute to the prestigious Atmanirbhar Bharat – Make in India initiative, while simultaneously improving 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.
Skretting has held a leading position in Ecuador and has played a key role in the transformation of shrimp culture in the country. With a combination of products, technical services and digitally enabled solutions like AquaSim and Skretting 360+, Skretting has supported in improving efficiencies and production of the shrimp farmers. With this facility and stronger footprints, Skretting India aims to deploy the same technologies and capabilities for South Asia.
The facility is equipped to support both sustainability and feed-to-food safety measures, in line with Skretting’s Sustainability RoadMap 2025 and Nutrace. As part of sustainability measures under RoadMap 2025, the premises has systems like rainwater harvesting and effluent treatment plant, amongst others. The factory follows the global feed-to-food safety and quality program Nutrace for end-to-end tracking and traceability with certified 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. This state-of-the-art production facility reinforces our commitment to South Asia and the 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 generated local employment opportunities with 120 employees. This is just the beginning in our journey and to bring knowledge and technology as a differentiator and enabler,” said Mr. Jurriën Zandbergen, Managing Director, Nutreco, Asia.
Nutreco has both organic and inorganic growth plans to expand its footprints in South Asia and is actively looking for companies that can support its purpose of Feeding the Future via its investment arm NuFrontiers. Through NuFrontiers, Nutreco has invested strategically in startups globally, including the Internet of Things (IoT) enterprises, Eruvaka – for innovations in aquaculture and Stellapps for improving efficiencies in the dairy value chain.
