GC Rieber VivoMega AS
Teistholmsundet 6
6512 Kristiansund-N
Norway
Phone: +47 71 68 30 00
Website: www.vivomega.com

GC Rieber VivoMega, based in Norway, is a leader in supplying environmentally friendly and sustainable omega-3 solutions. VivoMega delivers the best quality, purity and sensory profile for marine and vegan omega-3 oil concentrates to dietary supplement brands and contract manufacturers worldwide, according to the company.

Ståle Søfting serves as the sales & marketing director at GC Rieber VivoMega AS. Søfting has been in the industry and with GC Rieber for more than 10 years, where he is responsible for all international commercial activities, including developing and cultivating mutually beneficial partnerships with customers and distributors. Here he discusses the company’s growth and sustainable and innovative approaches to health.

NIE: GC Rieber VivoMega recently completed a $75 million expansion on its facility in Norway. Talk about the expansion and what it means for the future of the company.

Søfting: We are proud to have completed this significant investment on time and budget. The facility expansion allows us to grow with our customers and partners, launch new products, and ensure our position as a leading omega-3 solutions provider for the future. Our new facility makes our operations more robust, not only in terms of scalability but also redundancy. In addition, we have expanded our tank park to an industry-leading 38,000 metric tons to allow flexibility and ensure uninterrupted supply to our customers.

NIE: In April, the company announced that it now runs on 100 percent renewable energy. How did GC Rieber VivoMega accomplish this and why did the company decide to make the change?

Søfting: Since GC Rieber Group’s founding 140-plus years ago, one of our guiding principles is that we believe natural resources should be passed onto future generations in the same or better condition than when we found them. This principle pertains to our entire business operation. The electric steam boiler investment can supply all the steam needed to run our plants, allowing us to phase out all use of fuel oils. Electricity made in Norway comes from clean hydropower, so this is a step-change in our sustainability journey by removing the direct CO2 emissions in our production. This change was made possible by our longer-term ESG strategy, with clear and defined goals to reduce our emissions.

NIE: GC Rieber VivoMega launched EPA+DHA Algal Oil in March at Expo West. Please describe the new offering and its benefits.

Søfting: Our new concentrated EPA+DHA algae oil ingredient is an excellent addition to our portfolio. Pulling from our researched-based history and proprietary processing technologies, we understand that we are in a unique position to provide superior-quality marine and vegan sources of omega-3s. This new EPA+DHA allows product formulation with a highly potent omega-3 oil with a pure, fresh and pleasing sensory performance. Our algal oil launch is a sustainable ingredient that targets major health benefits, including cardiovascular health. We are incredibly proud of this latest offering, which adapts to consumer demands and offers increased flexibility.

NIE: Sustainability seems to be important to the company. What steps has GC Rieber VivoMega taken to ensure that this is achieved?

Søfting: At GC Rieber, we believe our social responsibility is to maintain a sustainable environment throughout our entire business operation, and by establishing our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, we have been able to define short—and long-term goals to ensure our progress. The ESG strategy not only includes our sustainability goals but also provides a broader scope of our initiatives. We continue to actively work with ethics in our value chains, as shown through our recent SMETA certification. These steps for corporate social responsibility fully align with one of our 145-year-old GC Rieber group guiding principles: Natural resources should be passed on to future generations in the same or better condition than when we found them.

NIE: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Søfting: Looking ahead, we are very excited to deliver on our company’s mission of improving human health through sustainable and innovative omega-3 solutions. In the bigger picture, omega-3 deficiency is still very much a relevant topic, and a majority of countries in the world have low to deficient omega-3 levels. This was again confirmed by the recently updated and published global omega-3 index map. While there are signs of improvements in some regions, there is still much work to be done, which confirms the need for intervention.

Reference:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163782724000195.