Fuji Moves Astaxanthin from Hawaii to Sweden

TOYAMA, Japan Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. has decided to close its Hawaii-based astaxanthin facility and consolidate all its production in its Swedish facility, which it said has more easily expandable technology and efficiencies. The plants both commercially cultivate Haematococcus pluvialis for astaxanthin production but each employed a different technology. Fuji said the Swedish facility is modular and can be expanded rapidly to accommodate the continued growth of the natural astaxanthin market. The company said despite the relocation of H. pluvialis cultivation, they are considering the Hawaii facility for continued algal development.

According to Fuji, the Swedish facility, which started operations in 1994 as AstaCarotene, was the first facility in the world to produce commercial natural astaxanthin from the H. pluvialis microalgae. The facility is ISO 9001, good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant and is a true monoculture system because it is a fully enclosed system within a clean room environment. The facility had started an expansion project before this consolidation plan was hatched, and there are still plans for further expansion of the operations.

"Fuji's commitment to the production and sale of natural astaxanthin is long term and our goal is to achieve excellence, said Mitsunori Nishida, president and CEO of Fuji Chemical. We have sponsored 49 published astaxanthin research studies to date which demonstrates this commitment in establishing the astaxanthin market."