Primex: ‘Clearing’ The Hurdles In The Chitosan Market
With its recent introduction into the American market—and a 50-year history in Europe—Primex Ingredients ASA, Avaldsnes, Norway, has refined its focus on the chitosan market and continues to work on technology development and consumer education.
In terms of the latter, chitosan—which has indications in weight control and cholesterol lowering—is low on the education curve thus far, but Primex is working to change that with its new “ChitoClear” ultra-pure brand of chitosan that is now available in the U.S. According to Thore Ivar Thorsen, sales manager, “Overall, we feel that consumers’ awareness of quality is increasing in the market, but there is still more work to be done. We are pushing to educate industry and consumers about the benefits of ChitoClear,” he said, explaining, “We have developed a simple test that shows the clarity of our product (pictured here). Our aim is to tell the market and the authorities that not all product quality levels are equal and they can easily see the proof for themselves, ie. if the chitosan is pure, the solution is clear. We have received very positive responses from this campaign and we will continue our long term strategy of providing only pure chitosan to keep our customers happy (and their customers safe),” he said.
Primex’s chitosan is produced at the Karmsund International Fishery Harbor in Norway through a patented extraction process that eliminates impurities, odor and taste from harvested North Atlantic shrimp shells. The processing facility is a food-approved factory with an HACCP-verified QA system. In the U.S., the company recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Orcas International, Flanders, NJ, a distributor of extracts and nutritional supplements. Primex will initially focus on the American nutrition and dietary supplement industries because of the need for consistently pure chitosan, said Mr. Thorsen, but it also has plans to expand the relationship with Orcas.
In terms of the company’s roots, Primex originated as AS Limvann, a fish oil factory, in 1950. Primex was formed as a manufacturer of marine food ingredients in 1981; in addition to chitosan, the company manufactures lobster extract, protein extract and marine peptides. The production facilities were incorporated into a state of the art food-approved facility in 1996, with an integrated headquarters, laboratory and factory facility.
The company started up a new factory in Finnsnes early in 1999, giving Primex a total of three production plants. Total recent investments include $11 million in chitosan-related equipment and $5 million in new buildings and product development. Total production capacity is 400 metric tons, which can be easily expanded to 700 metric tons with minor investment, according to Mr. Thorsen. He commented further, “We are confident that our aggressive investment in machinery, technology and infrastructure results in the highest quality chitosan available today.” Primex is currently working at 80% capacity and has plans for future expansion.
In terms of new projects, Primex has been busy. “We have developed a system of total utilization of shrimp shells, but this is not totally implemented yet,” said Mr. Thorsen. “We seek further documentation of the byproducts—beside chitosan—before pursuing additional market opportunities.”
In addition, Primex is working towards the development of new marine extracts. “Our most recent project has yielded an extract with over 50% free amino acids based upon protein from Norwegian salmon,” he explained. “We are currently developing a range of marine extracts that will have markets both within the food/flavor market and the nutrition market.” The company has also developed a proprietary microfiltration system—which removes everything above the 200 micrometer level—to purify the extracts so they contain only 100% water soluble protein, peptides and amino acids. —E.S.
Primex Ingredients ASA
Karmsmund Fiskerihavn
P.O. Box 114
N-4299 Avaldsnes, Norway
Telephone: 47-52-85-78-00
Fax: 47-52-85-78-01
E-mail: thore.thorsen@primex.no
Website: www.primex.no
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