As we celebrate our 40th milestone, we want to give you an in-depth look at our diverse aquaculture product portfolios. We sat down with our product managers to delve into the significant advancements that have shaped our offerings and the exciting innovations on the horizon.
We asked each of them the same four questions to understand the evolution of their products, their impact on client operations, and what exciting innovations lie ahead.
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Shrimp Formulated Diets, Eva Werbrouck | Artemia & Live Food, Geert Rombaut | Fish Diets & Health Solutions, Thomas Raynaud |
Let’s talk about the significant advancements in your portfolios and the exciting innovations on the horizon. Geert, what have you observed in the evolution of the live feed portfolio?
Geert (Artemia & Live Food): Well, the introduction of robust standards and advanced technologies has been pivotal. We established comprehensive quality standards & IFU that ensure consistency, reliability and high quality in every batch of live feed, which minimized variability in the nutritional and microbial quality of the nauplii.
Our enrichment products and protocols significantly enhance the nutritional profile of the live food, supporting better growth, survival, and health of cultivated species through enrichment diets and bioencapsulation techniques. Implementing strict microbial control measures and technologies reduces bacterial growth in live food tanks, preventing disease outbreaks and promoting animal well-being.
What about the advanced technologies you’ve integrated?
Geert (Artemia & Live Food): Incorporating technologies like SEP-Art, D-FENSE, and SnappArt, along with automated harvesting tools and AI-powered counting systems, has transformed production, reducing manual intervention and contamination risks. Our user-friendly technologies and support services enable customers to produce high-quality live feed with ease, improving performance and reliability in their aquaculture operations.
Eva, can you share specific improvements you’ve made in the shrimp diets portfolio to meet market demands?
Eva (Shrimp Formulated Diets): The evolution of our shrimp diets portfolio has centered on diversifying our aquafeed products to meet the specific needs of different markets. Each market has unique requirements for hatchery and nursery culture, infrastructure, and post-larval characteristics. INVE’s aquafeed offer has evolved to meet these production requirements. We’ve adapted by ensuring all fish meals, fish oils, and soy-derived ingredients are sustainably sourced, with ongoing efforts for other ingredients.
In parallel, we’re innovating with sustainable protein ingredients as alternatives to traditional marine proteins. Our continuous focus on nutritional excellence involves rigorous sourcing and evaluation of feed ingredients, alongside investments in production and quality control.
Thomas, how about the fish diets?
Thomas (Fish Diets and Health Solutions): The most significant evolution in our portfolio has been our ability to create diverse, highly specialized products that address the unique needs of various fish species, particularly those that are challenging to domesticate, such as marine species. This evolution involved formulating diets for fish in different water temperatures (temperate vs. tropical) and reducing the dependency on live prey. We’ve introduced diets that can partially replace rotifers without compromising performance, thus enhancing efficiency and sustainability in aquaculture.
How have probiotics and health solutions played a role in this evolution?
Thomas (Fish Diets and Health Solutions): INVE has been a pioneer in demonstrating the importance of using probiotics in fish and shrimp aquaculture. We were the first to offer a varied portfolio of probiotics with a preventive approach to water treatment by bioremediation. Our probiotic portfolio evolved to include new methods of administering probiotics orally, directly into the intestine of the animals. This has improved resistance and survival rates. Beyond probiotics, we have developed disinfectants and other products to enhance biosecurity and robustness in animals, helping them cope with stress and disease.
In summary, the evolution of the health solution has been to have a holistic approach with a blend of different solutions and products to prevent any difficult conditions of stress or disease.
It sounds like these advancements have had a significant impact on your clients’ operations.
Geert (Artemia & Live Food): Absolutely. Our innovations collectively help our customers to produce the live food in a reliable and consistent way, supplying high-quality nauplii that support optimal growth and health in their aquaculture systems. The simplification of production processes, coupled with the assurance of quality, has significantly enhanced the ability to deliver superior results in the hatchery operations
Eva (Shrimp Formulated Diets): Our clients have seen improved postlarval quality and operational profit by increasing survival rates, faster growth during postlarval stages, and more robust crop able to withs and handling and environmental stress during grow-out operations.
Thomas (Fish Diets and Health Solutions): Our innovations in fish diets have led to significant improvements in survival rates and larval quality in fish also. Clients have reported faster growth and more robust larvae with fewer deformities. This results in more efficient and profitable operations.
In terms of health solutions (fish and shrimp), the application of probiotics has significantly reduced pathogenic bacteria in the environment and in the guts of animals. This has directly improved survival rates and growth performance, demonstrating the profound impact of our health products on client operations.
How have your products adapted to changing market needs?
Thomas (Fish Diets and Health Solutions): Our focus in fish diets has been on improving the performance of our broodstock, resulting in better spawning (fecundity), improved egg quality, and enhanced biosecurity for breeders. We have also improved the growth and survival of larvae and maximized the weaning phase with artificial diets, reducing the dependency on live prey.
Our health solutions (fish and Shrimp) have adapted to new farming methods, such as intensification and RAS systems, and new challenging conditions like emerging diseases and climate change. This ensures that our products remain relevant and effective in diverse and changing environments.
Geert, how have you incorporated new technologies to meet these needs?
Geert (Artemia & Live Food): By incorporating state-of-the-art technologies, such as SEP-Art, D-FENSE and SnappArt360, we have transformed the production process. Automated harvesting tools and AI-powered counting systems have reduced the need for manual intervention, thereby decreasing the risk of contamination and human error. We have tailored our solutions to meet the evolving needs of our customers. By providing user-friendly technologies and comprehensive support services, we have empowered our customers to produce high-quality live feed with ease. This has enabled them to achieve better performance and reliability in their aquaculture operations.
Eva, can you share specific improvements you’ve made in the shrimp diets portfolio to meet market demands?
Eva (Shrimp Formulated Diets): We’ve continuously improved our products to meet market demands. For instance, we’ve reduced feed preparation efforts (LANSY-Shrimp Black Flake – pre-crumbled), improved feed efficiency (upgrade Epac Black line – extension and adjustment of particle sizes) and increased postlarval resilience to low salinity stress (Sano S-PAK – nutritional adjustment).
What future innovations can we expect from INVE?
Geert (Artemia & Live Food): One of the most exciting future innovations is our SnappArt360 concept. It includes enhanced precision feeding algorithms, cost analysis tools, predictive analytics for growth and health, and integration with IoT and sensor technologies and integration with automated feeding systems.
These upcoming innovations in SnappArt360 will empower our customers to implement precision feeding strategies that are not only more effective but also significantly more cost-efficient. By optimizing feed delivery and usage, improving operational efficiencies, and enhancing the overall health and growth of their aquatic organisms, our customers can expect to see substantial improvements in both their production outcomes and their bottom line.
Eva, what are you working on for the future of shrimp diets?
Eva (Shrimp Formulated Diets): We’re working on aquafeeds compatible with automated feed systems; aquafeeds with improved physical properties for improved feed efficiency and aquafeeds with novel feed ingredients in support of a sustainable aquaculture industry.
Thomas, what are your future plans for fish diets and health solutions?
Thomas (Fish Diets and Health Solutions):Looking ahead, we aim to further reduce the use of live prey in fish diets by enhancing the performance of artificial diets through new processing technologies that improve their physical properties. We also aim to reduce mortality rates by incorporating new additives into our feeds and applying novel ingredients to support sustainable aquaculture.
In our health portfolio, we will continue to develop new products to address the primary challenge of mortality and propose innovative solutions for applying our health products more effectively.
To conclude our discussion on INVE’s future vision, I’m glad to welcome Isabel Represas, the driving force behind this team. Isabel, can you share your perspective on the company’s commitment to the future of aquaculture?
Isabel (Product Director): In INVE, we have always been and always will be committed to the future of aquaculture. The product department plays a pivotal role designing the solutions that drive customer efficiency and profitability in a sustainable manner.
That sounds wonderful. Can you go into more detail about the specific areas your department targets to achieve this commitment?
Isabel (Product Director): Absolutely. We concentrate on several key areas:
- New technologies targeting better nutrition, improving water and soil conditions
- New application and delivery methods with the aim to obtain higher yield per aquatic animal raised
- Continuous gathering post-launch feedback and making iterative improvements to products based on user experience and technological advancements, delivering the highest quality products at the best possible cost to our customers
- Keeping abreast of regulations and ensuring products comply with industry standards to facilitate easier adoption and integration into customer operations
As such the product department ensures that the Inve organization remains at the forefront of delivering value to our customers globally while committing to the long-term sustainability of the aquaculture industry.
Thank you, Isabel, and thanks to all our guests. We look forward to witnessing INVE’s ongoing success and innovative advancements.