With its new pilot plant Aker BioMarine will manufacture INVI, a sustainably sourced krill protein hydrolysate that was recently classified as food safe
On behalf of Norwegian fishing and biotech company Aker BioMarine, German firm GEA is to design and deliver the world’s first pilot plant for hydrolyzing krill protein.
This represents an important step for GEA in the strategic growth area of New Food. The partners signed the engineering, procurement and construction contract valued in the double-digit million euro range recently.
Aker BioMarine fishes for Antarctic krill – tiny shrimp-like crustaceans – and uses them to develop ingredients for functional foods, aquaculture and animal feed.
Slated to come online in late 2022, the new pilot plant will produce a highly concentrated protein isolate destined for food and beverages.
The pilot plant now ordered is the next step in commercializing krill human protein powder. It will expand the current small-scale process to a scalable, industrial production level with a capacity of 120 tons per year.