Thai Union Group has commissioned its €21 million Thai Union Marine Nutrients tuna oil refinery, located in Rostock, to produce highly refined tuna oil.
With the launch of this new greenfield plant, Thai Union is now the only refiner of high-grade tuna oil with complete end-to-end supply chain and production management. Initial oil extraction is completed at Thai Union’s production facilities in Samut Sakorn in Thailand, before being shipped to Rostock.
‘We are focused on creating a sustainable future for the tuna industry by maximizing and leveraging high-nutrient tuna byproducts. Our pure tuna oil is just our first step in a suite of nutritional innovations from our marine ingredients business,’ said Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri.
Thai Union’s marine ingredients arm was setup in 2017 to meet the growing market demand for natural, seafood-derived byproducts beneficial to human nutrition, such as marine Omega-3 fatty acids. Marine ingredients focuses on commercialising high-value innovations identified by Thai Union’s cutting-edge Global Innovation Incubator.
At the initial phase, the Thai Union Marine Nutrients plant aims to supply 5000 tonnes of tuna oil annually, used primarily by manufacturers of nutrient-dense products such as infant formula, dietary supplements, clinical nutrition and functional foods.
‘This is the beginning of our sustainable innovation journey – what is left after we extract the oil, we will focus on utilising all of the nutritional benefits of the tuna, creating highly sustainable and innovative products to benefit human health and nutrition, now and into the future,’ added Thiraphong Chansiri.
