Spotlight on omega-3s: Industry calls for new sources to keep up with demand

02 May 2024 --- Demand for omega-3 fatty acids continues to grow, as research underscores their many health benefits and dietary guidelines recommend consumers to up their fatty fish intake. However, industry experts caution that the supply of fish oil — the primary source for EPA and DHA — cannot expand at the same rate as fisheries safeguard sustainable production.

Nutrition Insight discusses the opportunities for fish oil alternatives and supply chain challenges with the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED) and krill oil specialist Aker BioMarine, which recently launched an algae DHA oil, FloraMarine. 

Ellen Schutt, managing director of GOED, explains that the market for EPA and DHA omega-3s is strong. “Consumer demand has been increasing over the past several years. The biggest challenge right now is the fish oil supply situation.” 

“Most of the oil that goes into omega-3 supplements comes from the Peruvian anchovy fishery. Last year, in 2023, the first season of the fishery was canceled because there were too many juveniles in what they were catching.” 

She highlights that this “was the responsible thing to do,” as the Peruvian anchovy fishery is conscious of its role in protecting the industry for the long term. However, canceling the fishing season resulted in a lack of fish oil, leading to issues in availability and pricing. 

Peru’s Ministry of Production has recently authorized the start of the first anchovy fishing season. However, Matts Johansen, the CEO of Aker BioMarine, argues that omega-3’s supply issues go beyond the situation in Peru. 

“This is a fundamental structural problem that’s just going to get worse as demand will get higher and higher, and there’s no more supply coming — that supply and demand gap will increase every year.” 

New sources 
Johansen explains that a vital challenge for the industry is the flat access to omega-3s. He highlights that growing demand is coming from consumers — as most governments recommend increasing omega-3 intake — but also from a booming aquaculture industry that demands “a lot of omega-3” to produce different species, such as salmon or shrimp. 

“It’s coming from wild fisheries; we can’t expand those anymore. As demand is growing and growing, no more supply is coming, creating a stretch of the supply chain. We have seen that in the last one to two years, omega-3 pricing for the raw materials has increased three or four times.” 

Demand for omega-3s continues to grow, while fish oil supplies cannot keep up (Image credit: Aker BioMarine).“We need to look for new sources of omega-3,” he emphasizes. “Krill is an excellent alternative, but it’s quite expensive. Algae-based omega-3 is a more price-comparable alternative to fish oil, and it will be a vital part of the solution for omega-3 going forward.” 

Earlier this year, Aker BioMarine added algal oil to its krill oil portfolio by launching the B2B brand FloraMarine. This oil delivers 60% DHA in one dose. It is a natural triglyceride that is minimally processed and requires zero molecular up-concentration of the DHA. 

Moreover, FloraMarine is produced in a gentle, solvent-free process with minimal impact on marine resources. 

“FloraMarine is going to be the highest concentration of natural DHA in the market, coming from algae. It’s an algae-based omega-3 where we are using the existing infrastructure, manufacturing capabilities and R&D capabilities that we already have in our facility for crude oil,” illustrates Johansen. 

As the company’s marginal cost to enter algae-based omega-3s is limited, the company can offer a price-competitive product. “We can be a part of driving prices down a bit so it becomes more equal to the fish oil side,” he adds. 

Sustainable omegas 
According to Schutt, a sustainability story goes along with the different oils that go into omega-3s on the fishing side. 

“We think it’s important that people understand that the omega-3s are being sourced sustainably, and people are thinking about sustainability as part of their whole business regularly.”

Aker BioMarine CEO Matts Johansen recently told us about the company’s new FloraMarine product.“A lot of the oils used in omega-3s are byproducts of the seafood industry, such as salmon or tuna oil,” she illustrates. “Krill oil is another type of oil that’s used in the omega-3 industry. The krill harvest off the coast of Antarctica is allowed to harvest one-third of 1% of a particular area — another sustainability story.” 

Algal oil, the up-and-coming oil for omega-3s, does not take anything from the ocean. Moreover, she refers to a new canola oil, which offers a plant-based source of EPA and DHA. 

Omega-3 health benefits 
Schutt welcomes the growing consumer demand for omega-3s but cautions that “80% of the world’s population still doesn’t get enough EPA and DHA.” 

Research underscores the many health benefits associated with these fatty acids. “The most well-known areas in terms of benefits are heart health, brain health, eye health and prenatal or maternal health.”

“Those are the strong benefit categories,” continues Schutt. “But there are 50,000 published papers on omega-3s, of which 5,000 are human studies. There’s a strong body of evidence, and more research is being published daily.”

At the same time, she highlights a need for more studies with large participant groups. 

However, there are published studies on new research areas, such as inflammation or certain cancers. “There’s so many different areas that could be impacted by omega-3s that haven’t been studied yet,” Schutt concludes. 

By Jolanda van Hal