St. Louis company Benson Hill sees opportunity to grow with — and feed — aquaculture industry

Golden rainbow trout swim in pools at an Idaho facility owned by Riverence, an aquaculture company that raises trout for their meat. To help feed its fish, Riverence has a deal to buy specialized soy ingredients from Benson Hill, the St. Louis "food tech" company.

Jesse Trushenski, Riverence's chief science officer, holds pellets of specialized food just before feeding them to trout at one of the company's aquaculture facilities.

GOODING COUNTY, Idaho — Wedged between a small cliff and the Snake River in southern Idaho, pool after pool teeming with trophy-sized trout sit under a canopy of nets — safely out of reach of birds or other wild predators.

The scene resembles a sprawling fish hatchery, but these trout are destined for dinner plates — not stocking rivers or streams.

The St. Louis "food tech" and ingredients company Benson Hill is helping to feed the fish and have them pack on pounds with specialized soy-based food. Moreover, the company and significant swaths of the soy industry see farms like this one in Idaho, and other "aquaculture" operations around the globe, as an enticing frontier for sales — a surging market that can be powered by soybeans.

"The aquaculture market, it's now considered the fastest-growing protein segment in the world," said CEO Matt Crisp at a recent presentation to Benson Hill investors — adding that the industry is projected to hit a value of $245 billion by 2027. "We’re continuing to see this as a really exciting market opportunity."

Much of that soy industry excitement comes from the snowballing enthusiasm — and growth prospects — for aquaculture, itself.

As natural fisheries are strained by forces like climate change, overfishing and mounting pressure to feed a growing world population, experts say that the business of farming fish — not catching them — is an increasingly crucial line of work.

"We have fished our oceans to their capacity," said Hannah Lucas, a senior manager of international growth for Benson Hill with a key focus on aquaculture. "Growth in fish consumption has to be from aquaculture."

Beyond reducing the reliance on wild fisheries, another pillar of aquaculture might be an even bigger driver of its growth and environmental allure: its rates of efficiency.

Raising 1 pound of meat from fish requires significantly less feed — and therefore fewer overall resources — than from dominant types of terrestrial livestock such as pigs and cattle.

For example, Riverence — the company that runs the Idaho trout farm — said that 1.3 pounds of feed are required for every 1 pound of fish the company raises. By comparison, that's at least six times as efficient as beef production, according to academic research. Experts say that efficiency in fish comes from their digestive systems and growth cycles and is even helped by energy-saving features like their buoyancy and the fact that species like trout have body temperatures far lower than warm-blooded livestock.

"Fish are just more efficient at converting feed," said David Brune, an aquacultural engineer with the University of Missouri. "This is a big deal in aquaculture. ... It makes a big difference in the cost of operation."

The fish are voracious eaters — and seem quite enthusiastic about their specialized food, based on a recent visit to a Riverence facility in Idaho.

Almost as soon as the contents of a bucket of soy-based food pellets hit the water surface, the pool churned into a frenzy like a fictionalized piranha or shark tank from a movie, splashing onlookers standing several feet away.

Riverence, an aquaculture company that raises trout for their meat, uses soy to help feel its fish, like these in Idaho. Riverence has a deal to buy specialized soy ingredients from Benson Hill, the St. Louis "food tech" company. Video by Bryce Gray, Post-Dispatch.

Supplying the feed for all those farmed fish is where companies like Benson Hill and major players atop the soy industry come in. The diets for farm-raised trout and salmon can include up to 13% soy, while catfish or shrimp can take twice that amount, according to the Soy Aquaculture Alliance — an organization that aims to increase the use of U.S. soybeans in fish and shrimp feed.

Aquaculture operations that raise staples like tilapia, catfish and shrimp can get by with regular soybean meal as a food source, Lucas said. But she said fish like salmon and trout are more sensitive to plant-based ingredients, which can irritate their gut. Benson Hill, however, has come up with specialized soymeal that is easier for those fish to stomach.

"It's like a Cadillac version of those ingredients," said Lucas.

Benson Hill has developed seeds for the specialized soybeans and, after they’re grown by farmers, also crushes the soy into the ingredient that is then used by its customers in aquaculture.

The Creve Coeur-based company has inked deals to provide soy to aquaculture companies such as BioMar, and is one of three overall suppliers for Riverence — with the former touting itself as "the global leader in sustainable aquaculture feeds," while the latter is hailed as "the largest land-based producer of steelhead and rainbow trout in the Americas."

While Benson Hill helps supply feed to trout farms like those in Idaho, the company says its main aquaculture focus is on the large and lucrative salmon market. And the bulk of its business opportunities are rooted internationally, where aquaculture has a far greater presence than it does domestically — a gap stemming from a combination of economic, regulatory and cultural differences. Environments in powerhouses like Norway or Chile are also better suited for it, experts said.

Despite its environmental appeal, aquaculture has some potential drawbacks.

"It has to be done responsibly," said Todd English, Riverence's vice president of sustainability.

For instance, maximizing the industry's environmental potential could require that the soybeans fed to the fish aren't sourced from South America's Amazon region — where the crop is commonly tied to deforestation and the conversion of land from rainforest to agriculture. (That's one reason companies like Benson Hill have put an emphasis on selling "traceable," U.S.-grown soy to the industry.)

Meanwhile, aquaculture carries the potential for water quality and disease threats, particularly at open-water fish farms that use "net pens" — where fish are raised in an ocean or other natural body of water, within a netted or caged-off enclosure.

And, of course, aquaculture operations are only as stable as the water supply on which they rely. In Idaho, for example, Riverence depends on groundwater from an aquifer that gushes within the adjacent cliffside — water that, a century ago, was mountain snowpack. But that water source and its ability to recharge are made more precarious by forces like climate change and competing demands for groundwater in the area. The company acknowledges that it will need to adapt, and adjust to a diminished water supply, in the future.

For now, at least, challenges don't seem to ebb the energy surrounding the industry. Besides talking up aquaculture ties to investors, Benson Hill officials have recently returned from a packed lineup of aquaculture conferences dotting the globe — aiming to better acquaint themselves with the sector and pave the way for longer-term expansion.

"It's one of the key areas for growth," said Lucas, describing aquaculture feed as one of the company's top three business opportunities. "It's definitely a growth market for the soy industry, in general."

Riverence, an aquaculture company that raises trout for their meat, uses soy to help feel its fish, like these in Idaho. Riverence has a deal to buy specialized soy ingredients from Benson Hill, the St. Louis "food tech" company. Video by Bryce Gray, Post-Dispatch.

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