Audit and feasibility study for SAUMEXTRA
How to recover the by-products of salmon processing? The SAUMEXTRA workshop asked Upcyclink to help it identify the potential of its biomass and validate the feasibility of on-site recovery.
About the project
- Location : Loire-Atlantique, France
- Project stage : Pre-project, Feasibility study
- Raw material : Salmon
Context
Recovering salmon processing side-streams
For 30 years, Atelier Saumextra has specialised in the traditional smoking of seafood products (salmon salted with dry salt, traditional smoking, filleting and slicing by hand). The company is now looking for ways to make the most of its co-products (skins, heads, etc.) from salmon processing. The workshop generates 120 tonnes/year of by-products with little added value (meal). The increasing scarcity of this resource and the rising price of raw materials are forcing us to rethink our practices.
Role of Upcylink
Potential of side-streams and feasibility study
Upcyclink performed a comprehensive assessment of incoming and outgoing material flows to highlight the most co-product generating unit operations, and then the total cost of the waste according to the standard MFCA method. Recovery methods were identified and pilot tests were conducted.
As the macro-economic study of on-site recovery was positive, Saumextra decided to move on to the feasibility phase.
Upcyclink defined the recovery processes and collaborated with Saumextra to carry out trials on a semi-industrial scale. Samples were produced for market presentation and recipes developed for food processing. Plant engineering for on-site implementation was also carried out. All these elements made it possible to draw up economic analyses, right up to the business plan.
Customer benefits
Economic gains and resilience
This project should enable us to recover 100% of raw materials on site.
For the SAUMEXTRA plant, the initial diagnosis made it possible to estimate the real cost of its by-products, and to implement preventive measures and internal recovery (recycling) of materials to optimize yields and production costs.
The feasibility study enabled the SAUMEXTRA workshop to prepare the implementation of the solution on site. The gains expected from this recovery are economic, with an increase in sales linked to the sale of upcycled products on high value-added markets, and an increase in margins on the initial product (the cost of co-products is no longer a factor).
Improvements in environmental performance and resilience are also on the cards.
Technical features
- Expertise : Economic and sector analysis – Processes-Biotechnologies – Food safety – Food science
- Technologies : Separation – Grinding – Enzymatic hydrolysis – Sieving
- Final products : salmon mince – prepared dishes – salmon hydrolysate
