Cargill opens new £1m aquaculture feed lab
Feed producer Cargill is celebrating the opening of its new laboratory for research and development of new diets for aquaculture.
The laboratory in Dirdal, Norway, puts Cargill and EWOS lab competence and knowledge about nutrition and ingredients together under one roof following Cargill’s acquisition of EWOS in 2015.
Cargill reports that less than six months after the completion of their new fish health centre in Chile, the company’s research capacity in fish nutrition has been strengthened further with the opening of its new £1 million laboratory in Dirdal - the same place where Cargill Innovation Centre (formerly EWOS Innovation) has been conducting research in more than 30 years.
Important milestone
“Cargill has a long tradition in investing in R & D, and this represents an important milestone in the company, which has the ambition to be the leading player within fish nutrition research,” said the company in a statement. “The new lab is based on world-leading expertise in research on fish nutrition and analytical capacity, which has helped to create Cargill’s global reputation as a leading innovator in salmon feed.”
The company points out that an important factor for their R & D success in the aquatic area is close collaboration and knowledge transfer between staff and researchers in the laboratory, pilot plant and fish research.
“Having world-class laboratory facilities right next to our fish testing units and pilot plant will give us new and invaluable insights into how raw materials, nutrients and feed production methods affect the performance of our products,” says Daniel Barziza, Global Aqua R & D Director in a press release. “The new laboratory will further strengthen our raw material development efforts and our already leading knowledge in this area, enabling us to accelerate our product development programs and bring new solutions to the market much faster.”
Lab safety
The building's size is 550 square metres, consisting of 402m2 of purpose-built laboratory spaces, upgraded with security according Cargill’s requirements for lab safety, and 143m2 of office space. Everything should be linked to Cargill’s research laboratories globally.
Cargill Innovation Centre in Dirdal comprises the new research laboratory, pilot plant and fish research facilities at sea.
Eleven employees will work at the laboratory and provide support to the pilot plant, fish research facilities and Cargill’s research team.
EWOS is now integrated into Cargill Animal Nutrition as Cargill Aqua Nutrition, which represents the brand EWOS. Cargill Innovation Centre in Dirdal is one of three facilities for aquatic research within Cargill.
Cargill has 153,000 employees in 67 different countries. EWOS Scotland is the largest supplier of salmonid feeds in the UK and has a production plant near Bathgate, West Lothian.
