Matís - Sauðárkrókur in northern Iceland

Matis ltd. - a dynamic Icelandic Food and Biotech R&D Company Matís is an independent research institute which strives toward innovation in the food industry, biotechnology and food security. Matís provides consultancy and services to companies in fisheries and agriculture as well as governmental agencies. As an example, Matís develops new products and processes for businesses and plays an important role regarding the quality and safety of the Icelandic food supply. The Biotechnology Centre of Matís is located in Sauðárkrókur, in North-West Iceland. Matís's operations in the Biotechnology centre are based on two aims. On one hand is the Biotechnology Centre houses a state-of-the-art research laboratory and on the other hand there a pilot plant in its process area, where the start-up company Iceprotein was successfully established. The Centre provides interested parties with specialized laboratory facilities, a certified production facility with a pilot-plant and staff with specialized knowledge. The Biotechnology centre offers research facilities as well as processing facilities, where scientists and entrepreneurs in biotechnology can develop their products and processes in co-operation with scientists and specialists at Matís. The main focus of the laboratory is research on extraction, isolation and bioactivity analysis of compounds from various Icelandic natural raw materials. The biotechnology centre is open for all interested parties, where both individuals and companies can have access to facilities to develop and produce products for short and longer periods. The Centre can serve as hatchery for start-up companies in biotechnology and can be important factor in shortening the process from idea to marketing, or from molecules to megatonnes. The centre with its two pillars can be highly beneficial for those who need facilities to do lab scale research as well as to develop their ideas in the scale-up phase. The selection of location is based upon the fact that in Sauðárkókur as well as all of Skagafjörður there is a fruitful food industry which the centre aims to support. This includes significant seafood, dairy and meat production. The biotechnology centre is dedicated in providing state-of-the-art research and development equipment, and is already involved in several major research projects with significant international cooperation. The Centre operates in good cooperation with the surrounding food processing companies. For more information visit: www.matis.is/english/about/locations/saudarkrokur/

Matís is a dynamic knowledge company that provides diverse research and innovation services in the food and biotechnology industries it operates branch centers throughout Iceland including Sauðarkrókur the most important factor in adding value to food processing in Iceland is getting the most out of raw materials in addition it is essential to understand the charecteristics of these raw materials in order to develop innovative pathways into new markets The role of Matís is to provide services to the food industry and Skagafjörður happens to have a very strong food processing sector whether it is in meat, milk or seafood Matís has been working in close cooperation with local companies since opening a branch center here in Skagafjörður we have had outstanding partnerships in research projects and since Matís arrived here in Sauðarkrókur we have greatly increased our participation in projects we are in much closer cooperation with the scientific community and of course we use results obtained from projects to improve our companies opperations we've been participating in a cooperative project relating to raw material trace ability from catch to consumer we can answer customer questions virtually immidiatly about where the fish was caught, when, and yes even about water depth and deperature our products are much more sellable when we know everything about them in the summer of 2012 about 60 summertime staff worked for or in connection with Matís on applied research and development projects most of these summer employees are students at icelandic universities at the moment we are collaborating on fish feed research with the University of Iceland, Hólar University College, and the United Nations University Fisheries Training Program the goal of cooperation between Hóla University College and Matís as I see it is to enhance utilization of research capability and facilities in order to share knowledge and to elevate our visibility and those natural resources available to us in the area an example of such a cooperative project is the work being conducted by Godfreid this is a University Iceland Ph.D. project being conducted by a student from Uganda and we at Matís are involved by providing guidance this student has also had access to facilities and knowledge in Matís' biotechnology center here in Sauðakrókur There are enormous possibilities in biotechnology which involves working with biochemical substances biologically active materials and enzymes biological activity is the action of biochemical materials on our body for example it has been demonstrated that fish protein has a positive effect on bloodpressure and that omega-3 fatty acids have a positive effect on cholesterol it pays to process biochemical materials a good example is that today fishmeal costs about $1USD/kg but as soon as we can confirm biological activity that lowers blood pressure then we are talking about $1000 USD / kg we are talking about a 1000 fold increase