Hatchery and nursery feed manufacturer Bern Aqua has become Belgium’s first Best Aquaculture Practices certified producer following the audit of its feed mill in Olen.
The certification, awarded by the Global Seafood Alliance, covers the production of early life-stage nutrition solutions for fish and shrimp hatcheries and nurseries worldwide. The milestone comes as the global aquaculture supply chain faces increasing demands from retail partners, processors, and consumers for third-party verified sustainability and end-to-end traceability.
As a subsidiary of multinational food processing and ingredients corporation ADM, Bern Aqua exports its specialised feeds to more than 50 countries, positioning the Olen facility as a critical hub in the global aquaculture value chain.
Traceability and Supply Chain Standards in Aquaculture Feed
The Best Aquaculture Practices programme remains the only third-party certification system encompassing the entire seafood production chain, from hatcheries and feed mills to farms and processing plants.
Achieving BAP certification provides commercial buyers with independent verification that 100 per cent of the feed manufactured at the Olen facility meets strict global criteria for environmental responsibility, social accountability, food safety, and animal welfare.
According to Sébastien Metz, a member of the Market Development Team at the Global Seafood Alliance, feed represents a critical baseline for supply chain integrity. He noted that the achievement establishes a benchmark for responsible aquaculture feed production in Belgium and the wider European region.
Industrial Formulation and Cold Extrusion Technology
At the Olen facility, Bern Aqua integrates advanced nutritional science with specialised processing techniques to manufacture feeds tailored to the fragile initial development phases of fish and shrimp.
The technical and operational highlights of the certified feed facility include:
❄️ Cold Extrusion Processing – Utilising low-temperature extrusion machinery to shape pellets without denaturing essential proteins, vitamins, and lipids.
📏 Variable Particle Sizing – Manufacturing micro-feed pellets ranging in size from 5 micrometres to 3 millimetres to match the physical mouth size and ingestion capabilities of different larval and post-larval species.
💧 Nutrient Stability – Formulating feeds with high water stability and reduced nutrient leaching to preserve water quality in intensive nursery tanks.
🌿 Certified Sourcing – Prioritising raw agricultural and marine ingredients from third-party certified, sustainably managed suppliers to secure full upstream traceability.
Sam Valgaeren, Plant Manager at the Olen facility, explained that the new certification operates alongside the site’s existing organic accreditations, supporting the business's long-term competitive position within the international early life-stage nutrition segment.
Corporate Integration and Market Context
The certification of the Belgian facility aligns with ADM’s broader corporate strategy to invest in aquaculture nutrition, driven by rising global seafood consumption and the transition toward intensive, sustainable farming methods.
With nearly 25 years of operational experience in the sector, Bern Aqua’s focus on larval and post-larval feed formulations provides seafood producers with the specialised starting materials required to improve early-stage survival rates and feed conversion ratios.
By securing BAP certification for the Olen mill, ADM aims to assist downstream seafood operators in achieving "four-star" BAP status—representing fully certified supply chains across feed mills, hatcheries, farms, and processing plants—thereby driving category value for global retail and foodservice distributors.
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