'We love it. We don't want to pay for it': Alternative feed ingredient producers get plenty of praise, but push back on cost

Investing in an alternative aquaculture feed ingredients company is not for the faint-hearted.

Capital intensive, with a long and risky path to a return, the sector has turned to strategic investors to open doors and enable it to begin on the path to scaled production.

"It has taken us 15 years," Aker Biomarine CEO Matts Johansen said of the krill harvester and processor's journey to profitability. "And cost us $700 million (€654 million)."

One of the most established alternative feed ingredients producers on the market, Aker Biomarine's journey has been a case in point on the scale of commitment needed to make a company in this sector economically viable.