The development of the ‘fully extruded flake’

The following report is to give an overview of the development of the ‘fully extruded flake’ by Discusfood.

The following article explains the background that led to the development of the fully extruded flake by Discusfood. The following is to give an overview of the historical development of dry food for ornamental fish and of ornamental fish flakes.

1954

The invention of flakes as the original form of dry food for aquarium fish is attributed to Dr Ulrich Baensch, the founder of Tetra GmbH. In 1954, the developer made a breakthrough by producing a flake food that was different from all previously known products of this kind. His aim was to create a fish food that was easy to administer and had a long shelf life, in order to make keeping aquarium fish easier. Furthermore, it should be noted that the use of live or frozen food should help to avoid the introduction of bacteria, germs or even parasites.

Production

Flake food is produced by almost all companies using an identical process. First, a feed slurry is mixed, which is then baked over hot rollers to form a very thin flake.

How did the idea of granulated flakes come about?

Discusfood has made a name for itself as a manufacturer of high-quality granulates. Recently, the company has been increasingly confronted with requests for high-quality flakes.

But we wanted something new, not a 70-year-old flake production, so we asked ourselves why no flakes are used at all in aquaculture. The simple answer from producers: too little bioavailability. In plain language: hardly any nutritional value. So what could we do? The idea was born to add fully extruded micro-granules as a feed paste and to press them into flakes using a roller press in a drying line without hot rollers.The first tests convinced us

The intention to not only press simple granules into flakes, but also to achieve a distribution of the ingredients, led to the development of our first two granule flakes. These set new standards in terms of both the manufacturing process and the composition. An analysis of the ingredients shows that Büffet di Insekt and Frutti di mare are unique compositions. The acceptance of the food by the fish species was consistently positive. Even fish that are considered difficult to handle showed a quick and effective uptake of the high-quality dry food. It is a particular pleasure for us to be appreciated by specialists in the saltwater scene as a supplier of Frutti di Mare.