The Danish firm has moved into one of the world’s largest enzyme manufacturing sites, allowing it to shift from pilot-scale testing to industrial-scale supply as it increases production capacity almost fivefold.
The new reactor in the Novonesis Kalundborg plant will house Algiecel’s modular bioreactors which cultivate Nannochloropsis oceanica microalgae using artificial light, water and captured CO₂.
The investment comes after the firm raised €8m in 2024 to support the continued development and scale-up of its technology.
Supply under strain
Susanne Palsten Buchardt, chief executive officer at Algiecel, said the omega-3 market is one increasingly seeking marine ingredient sources decoupled from wild-catch volatility.
“Our customers are looking for a scalable, high-quality and sustainable alternative to the fish oil they are sourcing today. Algiecel is on a path to deliver just that,” she said.
The global omega-3 market was valued at roughly $3.3 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $5.4 billion by 2033 (Grand View Research) but fish oil supplies are coming under acute strain.
The cumulative fish oil supply in the leading producing regions (Peru, Chile, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the UK, Denmark, and Norway) ran roughly 31% below 2025 year-to-date levels in June 2026 (IFFO) and with forecasters predicting the 2026-2027 El Niño will become one of the strongest on record, the industry is braced for further fish oil price rises.
“At a moment when fish oil supply is under real pressure, this facility is where we prove we can deliver a reliable alternative, produced under industrial conditions, at the volumes our customers need,” said Buchardt. “It’s the starting platform we’ll use to scale further as demand grows.”
To boost its green credentials further, the facility runs on captured waste CO₂ drawn from an operational biogas plant on site, rather than requiring the use of bottled gas.
Further, because the design scales by adding identical modular units rather than re-engineering a single system, the firm is able to further capacity as customer demand grows.
“Kalundborg shows what happens when companies work together to get more value from shared infrastructure, side-streams and industrial expertise,” said Ghita Hansen, Vice President of enzyme production Denmark, Novonesis. “It creates the conditions for new technologies to scale faster than they could alone. Algiecel’s new facility is a strong example of that.”
Extended fishing ban
El Niño, the natural Pacific weather pattern that raises global temperatures, officially began on June. 11, 2026.
The start of the event was marked by a 0.5°C (0.9°F) rise in average sea surface temperatures in the central and tropic Pacific. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has predicted a 63% chance that temperatures could rise by 2°C (3.6°F) from November to January, which would make the event one of the most extreme on record.
El Niño episodes disrupt global fish supply by suppressing the natural upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water, stunting the production of phytoplankton and starving smaller fish.
This year, the Peruvian Ministry of Production repeatedly paused and eventually halted fishing in Peru (which produces roughly 20% of the world’s fishmeal and fish oil) due to warm coastal waters.
In August, the ministry officially canceled the remainder of the season, with cumulative landings reaching only 471,111 metric tons, amounting to about 24.6% of the quota.
The ongoing issues have made manufacturers acutely aware that they need a more diversified and resilient supply base in order to future proof their businesses, as Ellen Schutt, managing director of GOED, recently informed NutraIngredients.
She said most manufacturers are ‘very’ or ‘highly’ concerned about supply.
“For supplement brands, contract manufacturers and formulators, securing long-term access to omega-3 ingredients will require a more diversified and resilient sourcing strategy than ever before,” she said.
