Enzymotec selects DKSH for krill oil distribution

DKSH, which claims to be the ‘number 1 market expansion services provider with a focus on Asia’, said the agreement will also help it to support Enzymotec to expand their food supplement business in the near future to other territories.

The new agreement, which continues “the very successful partnership for distribution of Enzymotec’s phosphor lipid based APIs and excipients”​, said DKSH, and the distribution will be led by DKSH’s Business Unit Performance Materials.

Boosting omega-3 levels ​

Enzymotec recently announced an increased in the omega-3 spec of its krill oil, which the firm says allows customers to declare higher levels of the fatty acids on their product labels without increasing their cost.

The Israel-based company announced in June that its pure krill oil 4014F grade now contains 19 per cent omega-3, up from around 15-17 per cent.

A 19 per cent omega-3 concentration means that, for example, 190mg of total omega-3 would be delivered from 1g of krill oil, as compared to about 150-170mg per gram previously.

Market​

Aker BioMarine, which also sells a pure krill oil, has said that the omega-3 level in its product is 23 per cent. Enzymotec claims to have the highest levels of astaxanthin (200ppm) in the pure krill oil category.

Enzymotec, Aker and Neptune Technologies & Bioressources are currently the three major global players in the krill market. They each control around one third of the US market for krill.

Sustainability​

Krill are tiny shrimp commonly eaten by whales, and form the largest animal biomass in the world. Omega-3 rich krill oil harvested for human purposes accounts for less than one per cent of that biomass.

The minute crustaceans have been in the public eye of late, over concerns that certain krill fishery was not being conducted in a sustainable manner.

Natural foods retailer Whole Foods pulled krill supplements from its shelves, stating that “declines of some predator populations in the areas where the krill fishery operates suggest that fishery management needs to better understand how to evaluate the prey requirements of other marine species in order to set sustainable catch levels for krill”.​

Enzymotec confirmed earlier this year ​that its krill products are sustainably harvested. It sources its products only from vessels and facilities monitored by Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), it said.