RANEE Premium Fish Oil: Surprising Breakthrough

The Mekong Delta annually provides no less that 140,000 tonnes of fish fat, but it is primarily used to make animal feed and biodiesel, or exported at a low price. Meanwhile, Vietnam is spending billions of US dollars every year to import vegetable oil, with demand rising.

 

Earlier, some companies successfully processed fish fat into cooking oil, but they could not remove the fishy smell in the final product. As a result, the products failed. Around the world, fish fat is mainly used to produce fish oil capsules that supplement micronutrients for humans, not as fish oil for daily use as a food.

 

Seeing this, Sao Mai Group, led by President Le Thanh Thuan, sent many delegations to numerous other countries to study their technologies. Luckily, a European company agreed to conduct technological research and supply fish oil refining lines to the company. “From the laboratory to commercial production is a long process of learning and changing. Therefore, it took several years to successfully produce fish oil for the market,” Mr Thuan said.

 

After over two years of study, in 2010, Sao Mai Group officially signed a US$15 million contract with Belgium-based Desmet Balesstra Group to import fish oil refining technology and equipment for the modern processing plant. This line was invested to process and produce fish oil for human consumption. The fish oil factory was located on a nearly 4 ha campus in Binh Thanh commune, Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province. The first phase of the plant, with a daily processing capacity of 100 tonnes, cost more than VND400 billion.

 

The refining facility will turn out two products, stearin (thick oil) and olein (thin oil). Stearin will be used for food processing industries (instant noodle, cream, butter, chocolate, cake, etc.) while olein will be distributed to the market in the form of cooking oil and nutrition oil for children (supplementing vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids needed for health). Specifically, Sao Mai Group will also provide raw materials for pharmaceutical companies to produce fish oil capsules containing Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9.

 

Ranee premium fish oil will be an extremely important link in forming a closed processing chain for pangasius and shark catfish farming. By using fish fat, Ranee is a solution to raise the value of Vietnamese pangasius and Sao Mai Group is honoured to be the pioneer.

 

According to studies by the National Institute of Nutrition, fish fat or crude fish oil contains no cholesterol, but contains many valuable, good-for-health nutrients such as monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids, mineral elements and Vitamin E. Especially, fish oil contains EPA and DHA - very important elements for human health. If properly used for food and pharmaceutical industries, fish fat in the Mekong Delta will certainly have a positive contribution to improving the health of Vietnamese people in particular and worldwide consumers in general.

 

Research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes and metabolic disorder syndromes cause 60 per cent of deaths in the world and this is expected to rise in the future. Burdens of chronic diseases may be reduced if people pay attention to physical exercise in combination with healthy diet. Particularly, using fish oil as an ingredient with biological activity is regarded as an essential nutrient solution today.

 

Dr Truong Tuyet Mai from the National Institute of Nutrition said some research has proved that fish oil helps enhance memory and concentration. Fish oil is also very good for pregnant women and young children as it helps improve intelligence.

 

Dietary analysis results show Ranee fish oil contains lipid (99.9/100 g). In a 100 mg of fish oil, saturated fatty acids account for 34 mg and unsaturated fatty acids account for 64 mg. Particularly, it contains omega 3 (1.6 mg), omega 6 (16 mg), omega 9 (45 mg), DHA (0.07 mg), and EPA (0.26 mg). In addition, Ranee fish oil also contains vitamin E (11.08 mg/100 g) and calcium (5.6 mg/kg).

 

With the above premium features, the fish oil of Sao Mai Group is seen as a turning point and a new step to create new values for pangasius, a high potential fish yet to reach its optimum value. This has opened up a new path for a potential company like Sao Mai An Giang and proven a strategic vision, sustainable development and prosperity. This strategy enables Vietnamese companies to find a new market for their products rather than export pangasius fillets, which are imposed a series of technical barriers to trade by importing countries.