CFEED's Expansion Delivers Precision Engineering

CFEED, the Trondheim-based aquafeed producer, has successfully expanded its Vanvikan production facility, tripling capacity to meet global demand for sustainable hatchery feed. Delivered on an accelerated timeline, the project demonstrates how strategic vision combined with specialized engineering expertise can address industry-wide production challenges.

The expansion required comprehensive engineering tailored to advanced aquafeed production. CFEED and Ramboll, an engineering consultancy specializing in industrial and aquaculture infrastructure, collaborated to embed biological security, animal welfare, and quality assurance into the new facility's design.

"This expansion represents a major step forward for CFEED. By combining our expertise with engineering capabilities, we have built a facility that not only delivers precision and performance but also upholds our commitment to sustainable aquaculture. The result is a production environment that supports innovation today and reliability for tomorrow."
– Anders W. Ranheim, Technology Manager, CFEED

Early Collaboration Drives Results

"CFEED involved Ramboll from a very early stage, where we together developed building layout and process flow before reviewing CAPEX and creating an execution plan," explains Finn Volla Karlsen, Ramboll. Ramboll was involved with all relevant disciplines in the project from the feasibility study through to the procurement of contractors. In the detailed engineering and execution phase, we had several roles, including structural civil engineering, HVAC, process equipment, and control systems.

CFEED's expertise in copepods and algae production combined with Ramboll's industrial scaling experience created a complementary partnership. The collaboration focused on optimizing temperature control, infrastructure design, energy efficiency, and recovery systems, resulting in a state-of-the-art facility. The expanded facility's integrated technologies exceed international fish welfare standards and incorporate current best practices for land-based aquaculture systems.

"It is crucial to have complementary expertise. When experts from different fields work together, we develop facilities optimized for the final product—in this case, copepod egg production."
– Finn Volla Karlsen, Ramboll

Managing a facility for expansion while maintaining ongoing operations is a complex challenge that demands careful planning and precise execution. CFEED’s experience highlights that building a modern aquafeed facility requires detailed attention to engineering and process design, ensuring new capacity comes online efficiently without disrupting day-to-day production.

As the aquafeed industry continues to evolve, projects like this set out the benchmark for how producers can scale responsibly while meeting the complex protocols and performance requirements that modern hatcheries demand.

Read the article in Aquafeed Magazine