Europe is cementing its status as the cradle of innovation for indoor shrimp farming innovation. Germany’s Aquapurna secured a €20 million investment led by K+S, one of the world’s largest fertilizer companies, and France’s Agriloops raised €13m in the past six months. There are now more operating farms in Europe than in Asia and with different investor profiles. Asian companies tend to be backed by major aquaculture industry actors (feed and distribution companies), and the European projects are often funded by high-net-worth individuals and passive investors from other industries. This leaves us with an intriguing question: which types of companies will succeed?
The challenges to make indoor shrimp farming viable remain:
-Tech consensus: no clear winner in biofloc vs RAS systems
-Production glass ceiling: we are unaware of any producers that have surpassed 500 tons/yr
-Operating costs: €50/kg shrimp for the uber-wealthy. Scale is needed to lower costs
Our fourth Land-based Aquaculture Report provides a data-led overview of industry trends, covering all species, including salmon smolt facilities.
Register interest for the 2024 report sample here: https://undercurrentnews-6169725.hs-sites.com/ras-report-2024-interest
