Atlantic Sapphire ASA and Skretting enter new agreement to secure local feed supply

Skretting and Atlantic Sapphire ASA ('Atlantic Sapphire' or 'the Company') have announced Skretting's intention to construct a specialised state-of-the-art feed plant for land-based salmon in Florida to serve Atlantic Sapphire's US operations with market-leading feeds specialised for Bluehouse farming. A local feed plant will minimise the carbon footprint of transporting the feed to the facility, and is expected to cut the Company's logistics cost, and thereby its cost of production, by approximately USD 0.3/kg HOG.

Image credit: Atlantic Sapphire ASA

Skretting intends to build and finance the feed plant, while Atlantic Sapphire will commit to source the majority of its salmon feed demand from Skretting over the contract period, which is expected to span ten years. The all-in feed price will be determined by the actual cost per specific diet and can only be influenced by factors outside the control of Skretting. The agreement contains contractual mechanisms to ensure that Atlantic Sapphire always has access to market leading salmon feeds in terms of both quality and value, while Skretting continues to exceed industry standards.

Atlantic Sapphire has chosen its partner based on the unparalleled track record Skretting has demonstrated within R&D. The long-term feed agreement commits both parties to a close cooperation on R&D and development of Bluehouse feeds of the future, through both financial commitments and sharing of knowledge from and between the two organisations. Accessing the right feed quality and diet is critical for the biological performance of the fish and for the water quality within the RAS facility. Skretting and Atlantic Sapphire expect continuous improvements going forward that will result in better fish welfare, higher product quality, improved sustainability and lower cost of production.

Leadership in aquaculture sustainability is at the centre of both Skretting and Atlantic Sapphire's strategies. In addition to reducing the carbon footprint, the parties will be working together on implementing novel ingredients in the feeds. Skretting will support Atlantic Sapphire's ambition of continuously innovating towards high-quality, cost competitive feeds that meet all the requirements of the Bluehouse salmon while using zero marine ingredients in the diet and maintaining high levels of healthy Omega-3s in the finished product.

Feed is Atlantic Sapphire's largest cost component. Due to the specialised production requirements needed to produce salmon feed, the Company is currently transporting its salmon feed from Canada, at a considerable cost disadvantage. Removing the need for feed transportation secures the Company direct savings of approximately USD 0.3/kg HOG of production cost and cuts the carbon footprint of the feed significantly.

The construction of the feed plant is subject to Skretting receiving all necessary permits to build and operate the feed plant after which a final investment decision will be taken.

'With the long-term agreement that Skretting and Atlantic Sapphire have established, we are committed to increasing capacity to facilitate future growth of the land-based salmon industry in the US,' says Therese Log Bergjord, Skretting CEO. 'Atlantic Sapphire has been a leader in the land-based salmon revolution, and I am extremely confident that we can deliver on our shared aspirations, and that the Bluehouse technology will continue to thrive. We are proud to deliver the feed that will ensure fresh and local supply of Atlantic salmon to the US market.'

Johan E. Andreassen, CEO of Atlantic Sapphire USA LLC, says, 'Atlantic Sapphire's business case is centred on technological development and in-market production of delicious and healthy salmon with significant sustainability benefits compared to conventional ways of salmon farming. Having our most important production input locally fits perfectly with this strategy, as it reduces production cost and GHG emissions significantly, while at the same time accelerating the technological development of a customised feed for our Bluehouses that we expect will lead to higher productivity and output. Further, we see this agreement with the world's leading salmon feed producer as a strong sign of confidence in our business case and future growth.'

For more information visit the Skretting website, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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