International Aquafeed visited Olmix Group at the latest edition of the Asian Pacific Aquaculture in Taipei, Taiwan, where Mr Maarten Jay van Schoonhoven, Olmix Group’s Aqua Care Manager, gave an insight into the company’s strategies for a sustainable aquaculture.
I.A. – Maarten is going to tell us about Olmix and the products they have today on display.
M.J. – Hi, thanks, Roger. Well, as you said, this is the APA we are here with Olmix. Olmix is a French-based company. We work primarily with 3 types of ingredients. One of them is algae, seaweeds that we harvest naturally from the coast of Brittany, in France. We have also clays, montmorillonite clay, which is specific also from France, and we have some trace minerals. We use these products in different ways. We combine them or use them separately depending on what we want to do with them.
Seaweeds, we process them by extracting polysaccharides, and the polysaccharides we can divide them into 2 groups: the structural polysaccharides, which we use to modify clay that we then use as additives, as mycotoxins binders as digestibility enhancers, or gut flora modulators. The other type of polysaccharides are the marine sulphated polysaccharides; these have a very biological activity and these we use as supplements on the feed, which improves immunity, improves the gut health and the mucin production in the digestive system.
I.A. – In Asia particularly, are these European types of products applicable?
M.J. – They are, actually. It is also because they are functioning very well. They do what we say they do and, therefore, people are willing to use them. When they start to use them they see how good they work and then it just goes from there both at the farm and feed miller.
I.A. – And do they work for all species? Are shrimp excluded or included in this?
M.J. – They work on both fish and shrimp. Some products are more preferred in fish; some products are more preferred in shrimp. Depending on which type of products we are looking at.
I.A. – In the context of Asia, is there an important market to Olmix?
M.J. – It is. I mean, for aquaculture, Asia is always the biggest market so I think it is important for Olmix just as it is almost for any other company.
I.A. – How have you found the show this year? I presume you have been in APA before but what about this one in particular?
M.J. – The show has been really good. It is always nice to come to Taiwan. Taiwan is great for innovative aquaculture and new things. That is where Olmix is really good at: with innovative products, innovative ways to deal with challenges in aquaculture so for us it has been great.
Watch the video:
Original source: International Aquafeed
