17/06/2019
Menlo Park, CA (Sunday, June 16, 2019) – Delegates attending last week’s SeaWeb Seafood Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, were given a sneak peek into how one of the world’s most sustainable aquafeed is produced and used.
Thai Union Group PCL hosted a field trip to its Thai Union Feedmill in Samut Sakhon to show how the FeedKind® protein produced by Calysta is incorporated into feed – utilizing 10% FeedKind protein. The only marine ingredients remaining in the feed were Thai Union derived tuna byproducts and fish oil.
The tour followed a partnership event at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels in May, where Thai Union offered the world its first taste of commercially reared shrimp fed FeedKind protein.
Allan LeBlanc, Vice President and FeedKind Product Manager at Calysta, said: “The SeaWeb Seafood Summit brings together global leaders in seafood sustainability. It is exciting to see so many delegates interested in FeedKind and the role it can play in helping food producers meet the world’s growing demand for food without placing extra stress on our planet’s resources.
“Results from trials conducted by Thai Union at this site have shown that, like other species fed FeedKind, shrimp enjoy a growth rate at least equal to conventional feeds. Trials have also pointed towards an improvement in feed conversion ratios over other feed products.”
Darian McBain, Ph.D., Global Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Thai Union, said: “FeedKind meets a major part of our SeaChange® sustainability strategy in that it can bring a greater level of transparency and sustainability to aquaculture feed through the use of innovative alternative protein sources.”
Calysta’s FeedKind is made via a patented natural-gas fermentation platform. Made using very little land and water by fermenting natural gas, an abundant source of energy, it is a safe, nutritious and traceable protein which has been commercially validated through extensive trials.
For more information on Calysta, see www.calysta.com or www.FeedKind.com. More information on Thai Union’s sustainability strategy SeaChange® can be found at www.seachangesustainability.org
Notes to Editors
Contacts:
Calysta: Steven Flanagan, sflanagan@webershandwick.com, +44(0)141.343.3250; Lyn Christenson, lyn@linkagesgroup.com, 650.492.6880, ex. 100.
Thai Union: Leigh Murray, Leigh.Murray@thaiunion.com, +61.473.658.807
About Calysta
Calysta, Menlo Park, CA, is an innovator in sustainable products to improve worldwide food security. Calysta develops and commercializes FeedKind® protein, an alternative feed ingredient for fish, livestock and pet nutritional products.
About Thai Union Group
Thai Union Group PCL is the world’s seafood leader bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for more than 40 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as the world’s largest producer of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 133.3 billion (US$ 4.1 billion) and a global workforce of over 47,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.
The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch and Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, Bellotta and Marvo.
As a company committed to innovation and globally responsible behaviour, Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy. Find out more at seachangesustainability.org.
Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized in 2018 by being ranked number one in the world in the Food Products Industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, achieving a 100th percentile ranking for total sustainability score. Thai Union has now been named to the DJSI for five consecutive years. Thai Union was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the third straight year in 2018.