DSM Nutritional Products recently announced it will invest at least $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 Ocean Nutrition Canada and Martek Biosciences Corporation, both major manufacturers of healthy omega-3 oils.

DSM acquired Ocean Nutrition in 2012 and has become one of Nova Scotia’s 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.

“This investment of $30 million is another example of DSM’s ongoing commitment to the nutritional industry in North America as well as to the communities in which our people live and work,” said Hugh Welsh, President of DSM, North America. “We have high confidence in the science of omega-3s as well as the future market for omega-3s.”

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 United States and Peru. Every day over 21 million servings of its MEG-3R product line are consumed in supplements and foods and beverages across the world. Martek, a leading U.S.-based producer of omega-3s, 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 DHA and 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.

The U.S. and Canadian government agencies jointly decided to schedule a workshop in 2015 on the potential use of chronic disease endpoints in setting DRI values for the selected nutrients. This workshop will address whether and how chronic disease outcomes can be incorporated into setting DRI values and is expected to lay the foundation for an expert report on this critical aspect of public health.

“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, Vice President 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, a clear declaration of confidence in the science and long-term market potential of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in human health. The omega-3 category offers significant growth opportunities across a broad range of market segments and applications.