Norilia AS – Sustainable food value chain in the meat industry

Norilia aims to create growth and profitability through sustainable utilisation of side streams from the meat industry. When animals are slaughtered, depending on the animal, up to half of the weight of the animal is not sold to either the consumer market or to meat processors. The obvious, traditional uses of side streams of the meat industry include, e.g., using the hides, producing casings for sausages and animal feed or pet food. Norilia company tries to ensure the greatest possible value creation for the side streams. Norilia aims to be a contributor to a green transition through improved utilisation of resources. It leads, or is a partner in, several research and innovation projects. The company is also responsible for sales of new ingredients based on the processing of so called Plus Products. Plus Products are all the products from the animal that are not sold to the Norwegian consumer market or industrial markets as meat or processed meat. The aim is to produce higher value products from meat by-products, preferably using the processed by-products for human consumption instead of the current situation, where a large part of Plus Products are used for animal feed, fertilizer or energy. Norilia is currently working on several projects linked to the development of protein, fats and minerals. Norilia is a company with about 45 employees and a turnover of approximately NOK 500 million, of which 70 % comes from export. It heads up several research and innovation projects and is responsible for sales of new ingredients based on the processing of Plus Products. Most of the raw materials come from its owner company, Nortura AS, the biggest meat producer and slaughterhouse owner in Norway, but also from other slaughterhouses in Norway and Sweden. Norilia has the following operations and activities: • Hides & Skins Department - sales of hides and skins • Casings Domestic Market - import of casings for the Norwegian meat industry • Norwegian Casings Export - export sales of casings • Wool Department - sales of Norwegian wool • Nutri - sales of meat by-products (entrails and bones) for animal food and selected products for human consumption • Department for business develoment: Run research and innovation projects to add value to the Plus Products and to develop new business • Development and coordination of the associated companies in international trade of by-products, and development and coordination of activities to increase value-added on by-products Nortura, the owner company, has identified Plus Products as one of three strategic areas for investment in growth. Norilia has increased its investment in business development in recent years, and is also working closely with researchers and other industry players. In 2016, a decision was made to build a new processing plant for enzymatic hydrolysis of cut bones from poultry. The plant is being built adjacent to Nortura Hærland, Norway’s largest poultry slaughterhouse and processing plant, and will be completed in 2018. The plant will contribute to increased value creation and resource utilization and will also form the basis for the development of new business areas. Norilia will also produce hydrolysates (proteins), fat and sediment (solids). Hydrolysates from the factory are short peptides with great bioavailability and taste that can be used in different applications for human use. A new production facility for the separation of shell (calcium) and membrane from egg shells has also been built at Nortura Revetal in 2017. The plant is based on newly developed technology. Work is currently ongoing to develop new and innovative products from calcium and membrane, such as the use of membrane in wound treatment and calcium in supplements and human food. Success Factors The success of the enzymatic hydrolysis activities is highly dependent on developing a process that produces a stable, high-quality product, and on the ability to find a market for the product. To achieve this, a high level of co-operation with different stakeholders, especially in the research and start-up community, has been necessary. Some of the technologies being developed have previously been used in the fish industry. Hence creating a functioning process for other raw materials requires cutting edge knowledge of process parameters and enzymes. A key success factor has been the availability of funding from Nortura and from Innovation Norway, which has provided 15 % of the financing. Nortura is a cooperative owned by the farmers and therefore has strong relations and control of the whole value-chain. Norilia is, through its owner, involved in the whole value chain, from procurement of raw materials to sales. This makes it possible to better control the quality of the raw materials as well as to seek a market for the end products, while staying attuned to customer requirements and needs. Novelty Norilia focuses on finding the highest value products from co-streams from slaughtering beef, pork, sheep, chicken and turkey. This is done by using innovative new processes, such as producing high quality proteins and amino acids by complex enzymatic hydrolysis, or by producing high added value products from egg shells. One project was nominated for the Norwegian agricultural co-operative 2016 innovation prize. Sustainability impacts Animal protein is valuable and in the future there will be protein deficiency that needs to be addressed globally. Sustainability is using resources efficiently, a key aim for Plus Products. The ambition is that nothing should go to waste, but used as efficiently as possible, preferably for human consumption. This requires processing. Therefore, one of Nortura’s focus areas has lately been to develop a process where proteins and amino acids are extracted from chicken bones by enzymatic hydrolysis, and at a later stage also from other animal products, leading to more sustainable use of the animal. Cost-effectiveness Resource efficiency leads to savings in the form of lower waste handling costs. Additional revenue is created from products that have a much higher economic value than traditional uses such as animal feed, energy or fertiliser. The company sees great potential for growth and development of new business areas based on the processing of Plus Products from the meat industry. Challenges and potential for further development Developing a totally new process, such as the enzymatic hydrolysis for protein production, involves extensive development work and also involves some risks. One challenge is to ensure that the production processes work as they should technically. Another challenge is to find a new market for the new products, as the products are new and innovative. Further marketing and sales efforts are needed to ensure that the products find the right customers and target groups. Possibilities are seen in, e.g., protein supplements for the sports industry or for the elderly who may have protein deficiency. Contact person(s) for more information: Heidi Alvestrand tel. 47 22 09 36 87, heidi.alvestrand@norilia.no, Development manager