Foods of Norway aims to feed fish and farm animals using amazing new ingredients

Foods of Norway News

Can piglets eat trees?

Our research has recently demonstrated that salmon thrives on a feed with proteins derived from trees. How will small pigs react?

ERA-Net boosts NMBU’s nutrition research

Out of 29 submitted full proposals, “SusPig” has been approved by the ERA-Net SusAn Co-funded call. “To be part of this cross-sectional, international consortium is a great boost for the NMBU”, Margareth Øverland says.

The challenge

Today, the Norwegian fish farming and farm animal industries rely largely on imported plant ingredients, such as soy. But Norway can no longer continue to depend so heavily on imports, as there have been dramatic changes in world feed resources in recent years, with decreasing supply and higher prices.

Foods of Norway has a special focus on developing sustainable feed ingredients from renewable bioresources, such as birch, that are not suitable for direct human consumption.

The solution

Norway has limited land area for growing food and feed resources, but possesses large natural bioresources such as forests, grass, macroalgae, and co-products from fish, animals and plants that can provide a basis for the production of novel feed ingredients.

The technology

Foods of Norway will use new technology to create novel feeds from land-based and marine resources as well as improve the genetic robustness of fish and farm animals.

Future animal feeds should be based on sustainable feed sources that do not compete directly with human food, such as macroalgae (seaweeds), grass and trees.

Key research

To increase value creation in the Norwegian aquaculture, meat and dairy industries Foods of Norway will target three key research areas: Biomass, feed efficiency and product quality.

A Centre for Research-based Innovation at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences that aims to contribute to growth and increased value creation in the Norwegian aquaculture and agriculture industries by developing sustainable feed ingredients from natural bioresources that are not suitable for direct human consumption. New feed products will be developed from forestry, agriculture, and marine resources through industrial exploitation of cutting-edge research on processing and (bio)technology.

Foods of Norway also aims to improve feed efficiency by advanced genomic analysis to support genetic adaptation and identification of new selection criteria for fish and farm animals.

Foods of Norway's annual report 2016

Contact information

Centre Director:
Margareth Øverland

Centre coordinator:
Gro Steine
Phone: + 47 67 23 26 18

Administrative coordinator:
Barbara Eriksen
Phone: + 47 67 23 26 08