Copalis, a subsidiary of the Scogal group created in 1960, is specialised in the valorisation of marine by products. The Boulonnais based company is now the world leader in soluble fish protein concentrates.
” Copalis is one of the two subsidiaries of the Scogal group ,” explains Thomas Delacourt, the company’s Innovation Marketing Manager. Scogal is a cooperative of 95 fish traders in the Boulonnais region, which collects marine by products in order to process them to provide the highest possible added value.
For Copalis, nothing is thrown away, everything is transformed: fish heads, skin, bones and cartilage are exploitable raw materials.” Copalis has unique know how in the field of extraction, purification an d production of marine ingredients,” continues Thomas. We valorise coproducts in the form of highly nutritious soluble fish protein concentrates used in aquaculture and pet food. We are the world leader in this market.”
The company also produces a range of marine ingredients used in nutraceuticals and cosmetics for skin, joint and bone care. “From fish skin we produce collagen and elastin; from cartilage, extracts rich in chondroitin sulphate; from bo nes, extracts rich in marine calcium used in food supplements for bone mineralisation… Finally, we produce various marine bio active peptides that regulate the glycemic index, are anti hypertensive, antistress and immunostimulant.
Innovating, over and over again
With 60 years of experience and expertise, Copalis is studying the bioactive potential of hydrolysates obtained from fish co products as ingredients that can be used to meet the growing health and well being needs of seniors in particular. This study is being carried out in partnership with the Charles Viollette Institute in Lille, which specialises in characterising the biological activities of peptides resulting from the gastrointestinal digestion of proteins and protein hydrolysates. ” The objective is to research all the bioactive peptides that we can extract from our raw material and then develop the industrial processes that will enable us to produce them. We will then be able to offer o ur customers a detailed catalogue of marine bioactive peptides, depending on the effects they are looking for in their products.
Why join the IAR cluster?
We joined the cluster mainly to establish contacts and monitor regulations thanks to the “tremplin” tool. We took part in seminars on enzymatic hydrolysis. The seminars offered by the IAR cluster also enable us to develop our network. It is a dynamic cluster with a wide range of members, which allow s us to meet players from other sectors of activity than our own and to discover new projects. For us, it is an opening and an enrichment.