Scoular acquires frozen fish processing facility to bolster pet food ingredients business 

USA- Nebraska-based global agribusiness Scoular has acquired Northwest Farm Food Cooperative’s frozen fish processing facility in Burlington, Washington to strengthen its pet food ingredients business.   

The acquired facility upcycles fish trimmings by processing them into frozen fish ingredients for pet food manufacturers. 

This acquisition complements Scoular’s recent joint venture fishmeal processing facility in Warrenton, Oregon. 

The US$17.5 million facility upcycles Da Yang and Bornstein fish trimmings from their nearby seafood processing plants, which are then processed into fishmeal and fish oil, valuable ingredients in the pet food and aquaculture markets, marketed under Scoular’s Encompass brand. 

According to Chad Gauger, vice president for high nutritional value proteins at Scoular, both facilities strengthen Scoular’s assets and capabilities to serve pet food customers with a sustainable supply of high-quality fish ingredients year-round.  

“We’re excited to welcome the Burlington employees to the Scoular team and look forward to serving existing and new pet food customers as we grow this business,”  said Gauger.

While Scoular has been providing upcycled fish trimmings through its broad portfolio of products, this latest acquisition enhances Scoular’s product offerings with a supply of high-quality salmon, tuna, sole, cod, hake, and other critical pet food ingredients, said Justin Stadden, Scoular’s frozen ingredient commercial leader.   

“Scoular has been working directly with Northwest Farm Food for many years, and they are a well-respected producer of frozen fish ingredients for pet food. We are excited to continue to build on this reputation and for the opportunity to bring new products to the pet food industry,” said Stadden.

Scoular fishmeal operations in Myanmar

While the two highlighted facilities are in the USA, Scoular has similar operations in Asia, supplying ingredients for animal feed production. 

In March 2022, Scoular opened a fishmeal facility in Myanmar to provide consistent products and just-in-time shipment to Asian feed markets.

The Myanmar facility is a key part of U.S.-based Scoular’s expanded presence in Asia, including an expanded regional headquarters in Singapore, soybean cleaning and distribution operations in Indonesia, and feedstuffs and grain distribution operations in Indonesia and Myanmar.

Additionally, Scoular recently invested US$20 million to expand its feed blending facility in Jerome, Idaho, US, to meet the custom feed needs of the region’s dairy and beef producers.

This multi-million expansion adds two main capabilities to the current facility, a steam flaking process, which processes corn into flakes and makes the feed more digestible for cattle, and a pellet mill to make feed pellets for calves and beef cattle.