Ecuadorian shrimp producer Empagran and Netherlands-based alternative feed ingredients producer Veramis have won the F3 Challenge -- Carnivore Edition in the shrimp category.
The Empagran-Veramaris team scooped up a $100,000 (€103,102) prize for a vegetarian recipe using Veramaris’ algal oil rich in EPA & DHA omegas for Pacific white shrimp.
The F3 Challenge is a sales contest, aimed at driving innovation in the aquaculture feed industry to find viable, cost-competitive replacements for either fishmeal or fish oil.
In 2019, helped by sales to Norwegian salmon farmers, Veramaris picked up a $200,000 (€206,198) prize after winning the F3 Challenge.
In this year's salmonid category, US-based Star Milling won for its non-GMO plant-based feed that contains omega-3 DHA-rich algae and heart-healthy flax oil for rainbow trout.
China's Jiangsu Fuhai Biotech picked up first prize in the other carnivorous species category using its trademarked Fatide product with dehulled full fat soybean fermented by microbes and enzymes for its largemouth bass feed.
Japan-based Dainichi Corporation received an honorable mention Award, along with a $25,000 (€25,775) prize, for its breakthrough feed for red seabream.
Over three million kilograms of feed was sold in all seafood categories during the roughly 16-month contest, and over 95 million forage fish were spared from use in animal feed, organizers said.
The F3 – Future of Fish Feed is designed to assure greater global food security by reducing the aquaculture industry’s reliance on fishmeal and fish oil to future-proof the supply chain.
Details of the next F3 Challenge focused on palatants used to coat the outside of feed to enhance palatability will be unveiled in early 2023.
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