The collaboration is built on the synergy between Manit Farm and INVE Aquaculture – part of the Benchmark Group since 2015 and a supplier of products that improve biosecurity and microbial management – both in the farms’ water supplies and in the gastro-intestinal tracts of the fish themselves.
“The deal will allow Manit to distribute a range of INVE products including a biocide, Sanocare CID; a water treatment product, Secure POND; and a feed probiotic, Secure YIELD,” says Mario Hoffmann, Key Account Manager at INVE.
Global production of tilapia is expected to reach 6 million tonnes in 2018 and, according to the Thai Department of Fisheries, 197,00 tonnes of this will be produced in Thailand. Thanks to the comparatively low cost and the relative ease of producing tilapia, the sector is seen as an important source of protein to feed a growing human population. Both INVE and Manit Farm are committed to promoting aquaculture in Thailand.
“We believe in market synergies among complementary competences and we care for the sustainable growth of the tilapia market in Thailand,” explains Stelios Leontios, INVE’s Commercial Director.
Sustainable growth will be achieved if tilapia production is professionalized and modernized, integrating the recent developments in genetics, biosecurity, nutrition and management tools – goals that Manit Farm, which has been in the tilapia hatchery business for over 25 years, is keen to achieve.
“In 2007, we established our Tilapia Genetics Center, in collaboration with Benchmark’s Akvaforsk Genetics, focusing on the selection of different strains of tilapia. As a result, Manit Farm now provides Superblack Nile tilapia fry and Superred red tilapia fry, as well as a range of quality feed under both the Manit Farm and OHO brands,” says Khum Amorn Luengnaruemitchai, Managing Director of Manit Farm.
INVE, one of the pioneering firms in world aquaculture, which is also part of the Benchmark Group, has more than 32 years’ experience in developing products and solutions for hatcheries and farms worldwide. Through its market and technical knowledge, the company has developed products for nutrition, health and the environment for a range of species.
“The combination of fry genetics, biosecurity measures, and specific management protocols – through product and strong technical support – will allow farmers to cost-efficiently produce quality fish,” says Olivier Decamp, INVE’s Farm & Feedmill Product Manager.
The agreement will increase the market penetration for INVE’s tilapia products in the Thai market, by capitalizing on Manit Farm’s existing distribution and services network, which already counts more than 1,000 tilapia farmers across the country as customers.
It will also help the company to promote one of its main goals.
“This partnership will allow INVE Aquaculture to reinforce one of its main ambitions: to care for the growth of aquaculture by being the preferred knowledge partner for aquaculture businesses worldwide,” adds Stelios Leontios.
