DSM Nutritional Products will invest at least US$30 million in new capital to upgrade and expand its facilities in Mulgrave, Nova Scotia, building upon its earlier investments in the nutritional lipids category through the acquisition of manufacturers of healthy omega-3 oils Ocean Nutrition Canada and Martek Biosciences Corporation.
DSM acquired Ocean Nutrition in 2012 and has become one of Nova Scotia’s, Canada, largest employers in the life sciences industry.
The decision to increase its presence in Nova Scotia resulted in part from an agreement signed with Nova Scotia Business, Inc. (NSBI) that entitles DSM to earn significant rebates through NSBI’s Strategic Investment Funds in exchange for the creation and maintenance of new jobs in the life sciences sector.
When it was acquired by DSM in 2012, Ocean Nutrition Canada was a Canada-based supplier of fish-derived EPA and DHA, headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia with production sites in Canada, the US and Peru.
Every day more than 21 million servings of its MEG-3 product line are consumed in supplements and foods and beverages across the world.
US-based Martek was acquired by DSM in 2010 and brought new opportunities in the infant nutrition segment as well as the opportunity to channel and accelerate the growth of the company’s products into other regions, applications and market segments.
Supported by a growing body of scientific evidence, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to provide significant health benefits, including roles in infant development as well as brain, eye and cardiovascular health throughout life.
Authoritative recognition of their importance in health is evident from the fact that the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were recently selected, along with vitamin E, from 16 nominated nutrients for Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) review by joint panels of the U.S. and Canadian governments.
The DRI Committees prioritize new DRI reviews based on evidence of significant new data since the last DRI review, as well as relevance to current public health concerns.
“Omega-3 from fish oil is one of the most-studied nutrients in the last 30 years. Despite the well-established, scientifically-proven health benefits of omega-3s, many consumers do not obtain enough from their daily diets,” said Will Black, VP of marketing for DSM North America.
“Unfortunately, there has been a slowdown in the omega-3 consumption over the past two years, caused in large part by negative media coverage of questionable scientific studies.”
“Consumers get confused with these conflicting messages, so in addition to investing in hard assets, DSM will continue to invest in more science and consumer advocacy and education of omega-3.”
In response to this situation, DSM led the formation of an industry coalition working with GOED (Global Organization for EPA and DHA), which is working on a strategy to rebalance the tone of the media conversation about omega-3s for the benefit of the industry.
DSM’s combined investment in Ocean Nutrition Canada, Martek and the expansion of the Nova Scotia facility tops $1.3 billion.
