Lysi doubles fish oil capacity with new plant

Icelandic fish oils firm Lysi will double its annual production capacity to 6,000 metric tons at a new plant opening next month, writes Dominique Patton.

The company, which supplies to leading brands like Seven Seas, doubled its sales of omega-3 fish oils between 2003 and 2004 and says it cannot meet demand for cod liver oil. Cod liver oil prices are on the rise as a result of the short supply.

The company's expansion follows announcements from the major omega-3 producers last year, which have all added extra capacity to meet strong consumer demand.

Lysis however, which was set up in 1938 and remains a family business, offers not only omega-3 products and cod liver oil, but also squalene, shark liver oil and tuna oil.

Katrin Petursdottir, general manager of the firm, told NutraIngredients.com that this broad product offering, in addition to their key location close to raw material supply gave them advantages over other producers.

"We have a good supply of cod livers in Iceland," she said.

Export markets account for 90 per cent of the firm's sales.