SAIC Introduces: Devenish

In the latest ‘SAIC Introduces’ instalment, we hear from Antonios Chalaris, who is the Aqua Business Development Manager at Devenish.

Founded in 1952 in Belfast, Devenish is a science-based company headquartered in Northern Ireland, with sites across Ireland, the UK, USA, Mexico, Turkey, and Uganda focusing on developing sustainable feed solutions. The company employs over 350 people globally and is trading in over 40 countries.

Antonios explains: “Devenish develops and supplies premixes, minerals, starter feeds, and speciality feed additive products for the aqua, ruminant, pig, poultry, and companion sectors that improve the performance and profitability of feed and food companies.

“The company’s strategy is to grow substantially across multiple species and geographical boundaries, with major investments in plant, machinery, and human resource. A major part of this expansion strategy has been aquaculture, where a team of nutritionists work with aquaculture customers around the world, providing bespoke technical solutions and nutritional formulations that help them exceed their targets.

“Devenish invests significantly in research and development, with a global network of research farms and partnerships with international centres of excellence and research facilities. A range of nutritional solutions with over 20 years of development have been adjusted to drive performance for aqua feed producers.

Fish feed waste

 “Fish feed represents over 50% of the production cost in intensive fish farming. Prices of raw materials and energy costs have soared over the past years, and it seems highly unlikely that will drop significantly anytime soon. In Scotland, over 250,000T of feed are produced every year to supply the increasing demand for farmed fish and contribute to the production of this sustainable source of protein.

“Feed waste is one of the key challenges that the aquaculture industry is facing. This is a phenomenon observed not only during the production process of feed, but also during storage and feed delivery systems with crushed and dusty pellets.

Managing pellet quality and improving durability

 “SmartMoisture^® is a patented solution from Devenish, which helps feed mills improve their operational efficiency, optimise pellet quality, and minimise waste. This is achieved through better starch gelatinisation, improved pellet durability and the reduction of fines.

“The patented technology of SmartMoisture^® is based on a unique blend of glycerol esters of propionic acid, and surfactants. Glycerol acts as a humectant and emulsifier and can hold up to 1,000 times its own weight. The surfactant reduces water’s surface tension, and consequently improves moisture distribution. Glycerol and the surfactant improve water absorption into the feed particles, facilitating increased steam uptake during extrusion and providing better starch gelatinisation. This contributes to superior pellet quality with increased durability and reduced levels of dust and fines.

“Additional benefits of this technology are the reduced energy and starch requirements to achieve the desired level of gelatinisation. The impact of such operational, economic and environmental benefits provides a unique opportunity to aqua-feed producers to contribute to a more sustainable future for aquaculture.”

Get in touch

For further information on Devenish’s range of aquaculture-related products and services, click this link. There is also this Aquafeed article on improving cost and efficiency on aqua feed production. 

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