From offcuts to umami – unlocking the value of the sea

'Every year, as much as 50 million tonnes of seafood waste is dumped or used in low-value products such as animal feed. This is a source of protein and flavour that goes to waste, while the food industry is increasingly calling for sustainable ingredients,' says Karl Inge Slotsvik, CEO of Seagems Norway.

Seagems was born as a direct response to this challenge. At its factory on Ellingsøy in Ålesund, the company has found the key to a remarkable transformation: turning by-products from cod, salmon, prawns, crab and lobster into sought-after flavour ingredients. What was once thrown overboard now creates unique taste experiences in everything from instant noodles in Lagos to bowls of soup in Berlin – more than five billion meals every year!

'We use side streams from the seafood industry to create flavour ingredients in the form of powders, flavourings, emulsions and concentrates, directly from fresh raw materials wherever they are available along coastlines around the world,' says Slotsvik.

Using every part of the raw material is a long-standing tradition in Norway's coastal culture. Today, Seagems is taking this approach further through modern processing – innovating right where the seafood industry's by-products are generated.

'The production model we have developed allows us to process the by-products within minutes of the catch, for example on board the fishing vessel. Waste heat from the engine can be used to dry the raw material and remove water. This means fishers can catch and fillet the fish, and produce fishmeal, all on board,' says Slotsvik.

At the same time, Seagems creates new revenue opportunities for the processing industry in certain sectors, helping businesses make better use of catches and raw materials through sustainable solutions that increase earnings. This reduces the need for fishing and helps curb overfishing in our oceans. The innovation also delivers significant climate benefits.

'Frozen fish is around 80 per cent water. By removing the water where the by-products are generated, we reduce transport needs accordingly, resulting in significant cuts in CO₂ emissions,' Slotsvik explains.

Once the bioproducts have been turned into powder on board the fishing vessels, they are transported to the main factory on Ellingsøy in Ålesund. Here, the products are further processed and tailored precisely to customers' preferences and needs.

Since starting out in 2018 with two employees and production of just a few tonnes, Seagems has grown to employ more than 30 people in Norway and Denmark. In 2024, it supplied around 2,000 tonnes of finished products to major international food companies in more than 35 countries. Europe and West Africa are currently its main markets.

Although Seagems began as a family project, the company deliberately adopted an investor-friendly structure to raise capital.

'We brought in external investors at an early stage and have continued to do so through several funding rounds in recent years,' says Slotsvik.

And the strategy has worked. With 28 investors today, including majority shareholder Skeie Teknologi AS and seafood industry veteran Roger Hofseth, the company has secured the capital it needs to continue expanding.

The food industry increasingly expects innovation to happen earlier in the value chain. This opens up entirely new opportunities for Seagems, and the robotisation completed in 2023 shows how the company is meeting these expectations.

'We used to do everything manually: lifting 20-kilo sacks, sewing them shut and recording everything by hand. It took five or six people,' Slotsvik explains.

While automation ensures efficient production at home in Ålesund, Seagems is exploring new opportunities for innovative product development. With innovation loans and around NOK 30 million in funding from us, the company is now expanding into entirely new product categories.

'We are working to introduce seafood ingredients into product categories where they have not traditionally been used, such as mayonnaise and dressings,' Slotsvik explains, adding:

'The funding allows us to work at a much faster pace than we otherwise could and gives us the opportunity to develop solutions that are both profitable and sustainable.'

On Ellingsøy, the team continues its work to prove that sustainable innovation and profitability can go hand in hand, taking solutions from a small island off the Norwegian coast to the world.

'Our collaboration with Seagems has been close and constructive, and we look forward to continuing to support their growth and development,' says Ingvill Stene Kjerstad, our customer adviser for Seagems.