VANCOUVER, Jun. 1, 2020 – BMTT Fresh Technologies Inc. (BMTT Fresh), a startup in incubation at Empowered Startups Ltd, is excited to announce a collaborative research project with University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Faculty of Land and Food Systems has been approved for a $120,000 two-year grant from the Mitacs Accelerate Program. This grant enables BMTT Fresh to conduct further research in developing its cold anesthetization and packaging technologies for waterless transportation of commercial live shrimp.
About the BMTT Fresh / UBC partnership
BMTT Fresh ensures consumers have access to fresh and healthy seafood by providing commercial processing and packaging solutions for the seafood industry. It is currently focused on developing an effective method for transporting live shrimp in a waterless environment without significant losses or the use of chemicals and preservatives in processing.
BMTT Fresh is excited to work in collaboration with the Food Science Group within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia (UBC). UBC’s Food Science program is internationally recognized for its valuable collaborations in research related to process science, safety, and toxicology.
“Transporting live shrimp in waterless environments is still a relatively new practice in need of innovation. We have been searching for the right partner to take a science-based approach in improving our current processes. Fortunately, we have found that partner in UBC’s Food Science Group. With the skilled-researchers and modern facilities at UBC, we can work together to find solutions that will enable us to help our customers get fresh seafood at an affordable price.” – Hoang Phuong Dang, CEO of BMTT Fresh Technologies Inc.
The faculty within the UBC Food Science group is known for taking an interdisciplinary approach in addressing research problems related to a sustainable and safe food supply. BMTT Fresh sees this as an important value in developing cost-effective practical solutions.
“The outcome of this project has the potential to significantly improve the value of seafood products as well as improve the quality and shelf-life of shrimp products. By developing a new packaging technique, we aim to reduce the transportation cost of shrimp globally. Working with BMTT Fresh also enables the researchers and students in my lab to gain experiences in aquatic food industry, which has been extensively growing in Canada in the recent years.” – Dr. Xiaonan Lu, Associate Professor, Food Science; UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Research will result in a more financially and environmentally sustainable seafood industry
By improving survival rates of transporting live shrimp without the costs from shipping water weight, the seafood industry will be better able to profitably meet the demand for live seafood and increase the range for which it can be shipped. This will improve profitability for the industry while simultaneously providing consumers with new choices and affordable prices.
In addition, there is an opportunity for a more sustainable fishing industry as result of less waste from improved survival rates and fewer CO2 emissions from a reduction in shipping water weight.
This applied research will serve as a bridge between lab research and industry practices. With the end benefits being a more profitable industry for small producers, lower prices for consumers, and a healthier planet.
Current solutions to transport live shrimp limit market accessibility and have low survival rates
There is a large demand for live shrimp. Typically, it sells at a premium of $5 – $15 per kilogram higher than its frozen equivalents1.
However, the present method of transporting live shrimp limits market accessibility as after 15 hours in transport a very low percentage survive. Furthermore, there is large variability in the survival rate, which makes it difficult for growers, traders, and buyers to determine order quantities. Overall, this dramatically increases industry costs and results in unmet consumer demand and high prices.
By developing a low-cost method for transporting live shrimp that still ensures high survival rates, producers will be able to expand into new markets and more consumers will be able to afford live shrimp.
About BMTT Fresh Technologies Inc.
BMTT Fresh Technologies, founded in 2019, is an innovator in processing and packaging technologies for the seafood industry. We develop cost-effective and practical solutions for the commercial shipping of seafood that benefit the whole supply chain from fishers and farmers to consumers.
Contact Information
Hoang Phuong Dang – CEO
Email: [email protected]
Address: 420-744 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC, V6C 1A5
Website: https://bmtt.ca/
References
- Salin, K.R. (2005). Live transportation of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man) in chilled sawdust. Aquaculture Research, 36, 300-310.
- Seafood Watch. (2018). Coldwater shrimp.
- S. International Trade Commission. (2017). Frozen warmwater shrimp from Brazil, China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- The Voice of Vietnam. (2018). Vietnam dominates Canada’s shrimp market.
- (2015). Responsible sourcing guide: marine warm water prawn.
(Photo by Arina Ertman on Unsplash)
