Xpand: The gateway innovation to maximise shrimp farm performance and flexibility

Launching globally from Summer 2019, Skretting’s new grower diet exploits the full growth potential of shrimp, providing proactive farmers with the ability to further enhance their operations

• New, innovative feed provides farmers with far greater levels of flexibility – larger shrimp, same time or earlier harvest, shorter time
• Enabling farmers to make decisions suited to unique operations and environmental factors
• Xpand is the result of innovative R&D conducted by Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre (ARC)

Shrimp farming has become fiercely competitive in recent years. With farmers increasingly seeking new cost efficiencies as well as ways to differentiate their products in the marketplace, Skretting has developed Xpand, a new, superior performance grower diet.

The overriding aim behind this new innovation is to provide farms with far greater levels of flexibility. Without taking any shortcuts or unnecessary risks, by feeding their shrimp Xpand, farmers can reduce the associated costs and impacts of farming in exposed water locations by harvesting earlier at the same size; or alternatively, they can choose produce larger sized shrimp within their usual production schedules.

“Whether it’s bigger, more valuable products, or it’s reducing the grow-out stage to get shrimp to market faster, Xpand has the potential to be a game-changing solution for many of our customers. Through this heightened flexibility, farmers are now in a position to make the decisions that are best suited to their own unique operations,” said Lenaïg Richard Breivik, Global Product Group Manager for Shrimp at Skretting.

Proactive performance

Throughout the past three decades, the Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre (ARC) has conducted pioneering research into the functionality of the different nutrients in aquaculture feeds. With the knowledge generated, Skretting ARC set about developing a new diet tailored to the shrimp sector’s unique needs and economic circumstances.

Xpand is the result of four years of R&D, incorporating the investigation and validation of many different ideas. Built upon a thorough understanding of the digestive physiology of shrimp, this development work focused on three pillars:

• Improved growth
• Improved nutrition
• Pond support

Pushing boundaries

The development work for Xpand confirmed that many steps are critical to optimise the digestion of the feed and its conversion into growth. While feeding shrimp with Xpand leads to a shorter feed consumption time (time needed to eat a set quantity of feed), Skretting’s research also found that shrimp achieved faster gut transit time (time needed to process the ingested feed through the gut). In addition, feed intake is increased while maintaining the feed conversion ratio, which in turn leads to improved growth of the shrimp.

“Essentially, these results illustrated that growth is maximised through improved feed consumption and efficient nutrient absorption.,” said Richard Breivik.

Furthermore,  the level of particles lost from the feed while it is in the water are reduced ahead of it being consumed by the shrimp. This in turn supports water quality in the pond through the production cycle.

Right product, right time

Xpand is initially being launched in Vietnam, and then strategically introduced to other important shrimp farming markets around the world. Its availability will be communicated locally to all Skretting customers and partners.

‘’We are very confident that Xpand will present a strong alternative to regular shrimp feeds. Shrimp prices have been challenged during these past two years, which has encouraged farmers to look for superior growth performance, as much as for solutions that optimise production costs. Xpand ticks all the right boxes; it’s a very important addition to Skretting’s shrimp nutrition portfolio,” said Marc Le Poul, General Manager of Skretting South Asia.