Omega-3 concentrates supplier GC Rieber VivoMega expand facilities due to growing demand: 2022 SupplySide West Report

Photo © AdobeStock.com/Maksymiv Iurii

Earlier this year, omega-3 ingredient supplier GC Rieber VivoMega (Norway) announced a five-year, $75 million investment plan to build a new facility at its manufacturing campus in Norway. During November’s SupplySide West show in Las Vegas, Ståle Søfting, sales and marketing director at GC Rieber Oils AS, told Nutritional Outlook that the expansion will help the company accommodate the growing business it’s seeing.

“The focus on personal health and nutrition has probably never been stronger in many, many markets,” he said, “and I think we’re also part of that with omega-3 products. Our customers are looking to grow, and we’ll have a lot more capacity to grow with those customers in 2024.”

GC Rieber specializes in omega-3 concentrates, for which demand remains steady. “That segment is probably growing higher than the overall category,” said Søfting. With more consumers now taking supplements, and more shoppers educating themselves on the benefits of higher-potency products, concentrates have gained an even bigger following. “I think the trend has been ongoing for a few years because, unlike with the traditional, 30% kinds of omega-3 oils where you realistically need to take quite a few softgels to get a good dosage on a daily basis, [you can take just] one or two softgels with a high concentrate," he said. "So that [demand has] accelerated even more in the last couple of years now.”

GC Rieber’s facility expansion will increase the company’s production capacity by 1,000-1,5000 metric tons annually, said Sales Manager Ole-Johan Nekstad. The facility will feature new technology, “which can increase our opportunities in different markets and also [allow us to produce] some higher concentrates than what we have today,” he said.

The company has also invested in more large tanks to store crude oil on site—something that’s been especially helpful in sidestepping some of the supply chain hiccups happening worldwide. “It hasn’t hit our production as hard as some others because we have a huge tank farm where we’re able to store large amounts of crude oil,” said Nekstad.