NEW ERA SECURES CONTRACT WITH GLOBAL LEISURE GIANTS MERLIN

New Era Aquaculture Ltd, the aquatic specialists in South Yorkshire who formulate innovative feeding strategies for both marine and tropical fishes across the globe, has secured a lucrative deal with Merlin Entertainment Group to supply all thirty SeaLife Centres across Europe over the next three years. SeaLife Centres, which are part of Merlin Entertainment Group, the second biggest entertainment company in the world after Disney, has secured the contract having successfully been working with New Era Aquaculture for the last year trialling the product ranges for both native and Tropical Marine Species.

Merlin who are the global leisure giants, are already impressed with New Era’s advanced nutrition and technical feeding strategies which include flakes, pellets and sprays for frozen foods. The moist pellets allow feeding of the smallest species up to and including Blacktip sharks, which have been feeding very positively at both Hunstanton and Great Yarmouth SeaLife Centre. Mike Stephenson, of Merlin Entertainment Group added “In addition to the fish health and operational time savings realized by this feed, overall, the use of this product will generate substantial savings for Merlin which is particularly good in the current economic climate”.

There are numerous nutritional benefits for fish feeding on New Era’s product ranges daily, as most species are able to switch instantly to the advanced flakes and pellets, providing them with a complete profile of essential nutrients for long term well being. Merlin also recognise the wider benefits, which is why they have secured the partnership, as New Era’s advanced products can be stored without the need to refrigerate or freeze the food which means no defrosting, gutting or preparation. This allows more care time to allocate to fish and indeed substantial cost savings across the business.

Derek Scales, Displays Curator for Tropicals, is delighted with New Era’s feeding strategies, products and approach and commented “New Era have excellent products, are easy to feed and fish accept them quickly. A visual increase in bodyweight is seen very quickly after the arrival and the varying sizes and types of feed make New Era’s dry food superb”.

New Era's wealth of specialist aquatics and aquaculture expertise spreads over three decades giving the company the confidence to aim its innovative fish food products at the international retail and aquarium market for tropical marine and tropical freshwater fish, including marine ornamental species. Today, New Era combines all its industry experience and skills with the very latest technology, to develop and manufacture a wide range of nutritional and technical products and is securing successful partnerships with International organizations such as Merlin Entertainment Group, to raise the profile of its products across the Globe.

IT'S AN EXCITING TIME AHEAD!

We thought all our birthdays had come at once when we received a £300,000 investment, allowing us to refine our overseas distribution networks and expand our facilities at home, including the installation of a live fish holding facility.

The investment comprises £150,000 from Enterprise Ventures Limited (EV) through the Coalfields Enterprise Fund and £150,000 from South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF).
Our managing director, Peter Kersh, commented: "We are delighted that both investors understood the innovation and uniqueness of the business. The timing is opportune, enabling us to fulfil our expansion plans in manufacturing, international brand development and a live holding facility. Exciting times are ahead for us!"

Paul Taberner, EV investment director for the deal, said: “We have been impressed by New Era's management team, with their years of experience and deep understanding of the marine aquaculture market. The company's product range has clear advantages over the competition and a substitute for many traditional methods of feeding captive and ornamental fish. We believe the company is well placed to continue growing into new geographical markets”.

Our team has an exceptional reputation, including fish nutritionists, marine biologists, immunologists, zoologists and microbiologists. The company is committed to a significant programme of research and development, which results in uniquely formulated products of the very highest quality.

NEW ERA LAUNCHES REVOLUTIONARY DISCUS DIET

New Era Aquaculture Ltd, the aquatic specialists who formulate innovative feeding strategies for both marine and tropical fishes across the globe, is launching a revolutionary product to feed the growing Discus market. New Era, based in Thorne, South Yorkshire who’s products have taken both the UK and international aquatic market by storm with its innovative product range, has been perfecting the specialist high protein diet over recent months, for its launch into the marketplace in October 2009. Using a fine blend of ingredients such as fresh bloodworm, high quality fish, shrimp and a unique blend of minerals, these moisture controlled soft pellets will be distributed to over 200 stockists across the UK, in addition to partners across Europe, the Middle East, Pacific Region and North America.

New Era has been extensively trialling the new Discus diet pellets over recent months with excellent results and is excited about the new revolutionary product, which also compliments other unique product ranges that are designed to feed all types of species. New Era are enthusiastic about diversifying into new markets for long term success, having first launched their Marine and Aegis Flakes into the marine market in 2005, and later expanded into the fresh tropical market with their unique Tropical Flakes and Cichlid diets last year. Peter Kersh, New Era Aquaculture’s Managing Director quoted “We identified a gap in the market to feed Discus, and our wealth of experience in formulating diets for different species together with our in-house manufacturing capabilities, enabled us to create a pellet rich in protein which would give the nutrient profile needed for feeding Discus. This product is yet another example of our commitment to continuously creating diets to feed more and more species, which are unique in the market place”.

New Era's wealth of specialist aquatics and aquaculture expertise spreads over three decades giving the company the confidence to aim its innovative fish food products at the international retail and aquarium market for tropical marine and tropical freshwater fish, including marine ornamental species. Today, New Era combines all its industry experience and skills with the very latest technology, to develop and manufacture a wide range of nutritional and technical products and is securing successful partnerships with International organizations to raise the profile of its products across the Globe.

Find out more on our Discus page.

 

LANGUAGE SKILLS TAKE THE LEAD WITH NEW ERA

New Era Aquaculture, an innovative Doncaster based company specialising in ornamental aquaculture, has secured a major European contract for distribution in 40 countries after brushing up their language skills.

Peter Kersh, Director of New Era Aquaculture, was speaking at Pinsent Masons where his successful company and other similar business champions agreed to demonstrate to young people how important languages are to communicate in the business world.

New Era’s business is distinctively split into two areas. The core business is the development of nutritionally balanced diets for marine and tropical ornamental fishes aimed at both the international retail and aquariums market. The company’s other main activity is the aquarium design and build market. New Era design, build and maintain beautiful custom made aquariums for the corporate market.

It is essential for New Era to communicate effectively with international clients, as their advanced range of technical feeds and supplements are extending overseas for both marine and tropical ornamental fish. Peter Kersh and his team have forged successful international partnerships with clients in Ireland, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Malta, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

“By ensuring that my staff were up to speed with modern languages, we were able to converse in several languages and effectively showcase our company at Interzoo, the world’s biggest international pet show in Nuremburg recently, signing a 40 country distribution contract with Aquarium Munster, a leading German aquatics company. The RLN YH based in Sheffield provided bespoke training for my staff and this has had a dramatic positive effect.”

“During the four days at Interzoo, we were operating in five languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese), and had we not had a working knowledge of these languages, we would not have secured this agreement.”

Since returning from Interzoo, New Era has also secured deals with Greece, Italy and South Africa. New Era is an innovative company and their language skills are just another example of how they intend to grow from strength the strength. This combined with an exceptional reputation, full service operation in house and a unique team of fish nutritionalists, marine biologists, marine zoologists and microbiologists, are enabling them to become market leaders in fish nutrition.

 

NEW ERA DIVERSIFIES WITH UNIQUE PUSH/TWIST WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM

New Era Aquaculture, the Doncaster-based specialist known for producing innovative aquatic feeds, is strengthening its product portfolio with a flexible and comprehensive reverse osmosis water treatment system which offers a number of unique features to the UK market.

The system, used to remove unwanted substances from water, is suitable for both tropical and marine fish and comprises a specially designed, compact and elegant wall-mounted filtration unit with three cartridges, which are fixed by means of a simple bayonet type push and twist mechanism - an industry first. They can also be upgraded, easily and independently changed when running low, with replacements available separately.

The reverse osmosis membrane cartridge removes nitrates, phosphates, heavy metals and hardness-forming substances from the water; the sediment filter cartridge retains the finest of particles, and the carbon filter cartridge which also aids the absorption of chemicals such as chlorine.

New Era’s reverse osmosis water treatment system is available in four sizes - 90/150/250/370 litres per day - depending on the water volume to be purified. Individual 10”, 11” and 13” replacement cartridges are always available separately depending on customer specific requirements.

New Era Aquaculture has an experienced team of technical specialists, with the latest technology at their disposal to offer an innovative range of aquatic feeds and non-food products to customers. The reverse osmosis system can be purchased by contacting local aquatic retailers or visiting the Reverse Osmois page.

 

FISH FEEDS SPECIALIST RECEIVES £300,000 TO BOOST BUSINESS

A company which specialises in advanced and innovative fish feeds will use a £300,000 investment to develop its export sales and manufacturing facilities

The capital injection will enable New Era Aquaculture Limited, based in Thorne near Doncaster, to refine its overseas distribution networks and expand its facilities at home, including the installation of a live fish holding facility. New Era formulates, manufactures and distributes innovative dietary fish feeds and supplements. It also designs, installs and maintains distinctive aquariums for the corporate and leisure markets.
The investment comprises £150,000 from Enterprise Ventures Limited (EV) through the Coalfields Enterprise Fund and a £150,000 equity-linked investment from South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF).
Peter Kersh, New Era's managing director, commented, "We are delighted to complete the new investment with EV/SYIF. Both investors saw and understood very quickly the innovation and uniqueness of the business and what we are trying to achieve. The timing is very opportune as the investment will allow us to drive forward with our expansion plans for the business in manufacturing, international brand development and a live holding facility. Exciting times are ahead for us!"

Paul Taberner, EV investment director for the deal, commented, “We have been impressed with the management team at New Era from the outset, with their years of experience and deep understanding of the marine aquaculture market. The New Era product range has clear areas of advantage over the competition and as a substitute for traditional methods of feeding captive and ornamental fish. We believe the company is extremely well placed to continue recent growth into new geographical markets”.

The New Era team has an exceptional reputation and includes fish nutritionists, marine biologists, immunologists, zoologists and microbiologists. The company is committed to a significant programme of research and development, which results in uniquely formulated products of the very highest quality.

NEW ERA'S CICHLID DIETS ARE NEW AND TOTALLY TROPICAL

New Era Aquaculture, the Doncaster-based aquatic nutrition specialist, is further broadening the appeal of its product ranges to retailers and enthusiasts alike with the launch of cichlid pellet products - African and American - developed scientifically to maximise the health of tropical cichlids.

The determined move to target this highly specialised and sophisticated sector of the aquatic market, which represents a high percentage of aquatic feedings, builds on New Era's proven reputation for its advanced and extensive range of quality tropical and marine diet products and signals the development of its unique approach to feeding strategies.

This, however, is not New Era's first 'toe in the tropical waters', as the company's tropical flakes have already been launched successfully into the market. Together the company's two cichlid pellet varieties meet the differing dietary needs of African and Central South Central South American cichlids, providing a complete and well balanced diet to promote vibrancy and optimum colouration.

With experienced technical specialists at the science-based company's helm, New Era boasts the latest technology and nutritional enhancements to custom make on-site the large, soft and malleable sinking pellets, which are designed to be palatable, digestible, lock in nutrients, aid water quality, and with no loss of nutrients to the fish.

Mark Wilson, New Era's technical director and a highly respected marine specialist, said: "There are thousands of different types of cichlids and choosing the correct nutrition for the right species is essential to create their natural environment artificially, ensuring that the correct nutrition are absorbed and the fish are happier, healthier and live longer."

The pellets for carnivorous American cichlids are rich in protein, containing quality fish, shrimp and crustacea. In contrast, New Era's pellets for herbivorous African cichlids blend five different algae and plant extracts and are low in protein, yet rich in essential carotenoids.

Retailers are already choosing New Era's new tropical cichlid pellets to feed their own live stock, as they recognise the quality ingredients and benefits to their fish.

Steve Mullin, owner of Leicestershire's Deep Blue Aquatics, said: "Using New Era's cichlid pellets to feed our own fish undoubtedly promotes sales, as the benefits are self evident to our customers."

For more information about New Era cichlid pellets see our Tropical section.

 

NEW ERA'S DIVERSIFIED INTO FILTRATION SYSTEMS

New Era Aquaculture, the Doncaster-based aquatic specialist known for producing innovative aquatic feeds for tropical and marine fishes, is strengthening its product portfolio by introducing water treatment systems to clients both in the UK and overseas.

This product diversification is new for New Era Aquaculture and demonstrates the company’s on-going commitment to forefront innovation in the industry. The perfectly formed Reverse Osmosis Unit is a comprehensive three part filtration system consisting of a wall mounted unit; a Reverse Osmosis Membrane cartridge which removes nitrates, phosphates, heavy metals and hardness forming substances from the water; a Sediment Filter cartridge which detains finest soil particles, and a Carbon Filter cartridge which aids the absorption performance of high-value activated carbon.

New Era’s Reverse Osmosis water treatment product is in popular demand in the UK due to its flexible nature and can be purchased as a complete system for cost effectiveness, which is available in three different sizes depending on the water volume to be purified. Individual 10”, 11” and 13” replacement cartridges are always available separately depending on customer specific requirements.

New Era Aquaculture has an experienced team of technical specialists and boasts the latest technology to offer an innovative range of aquatic feeds and non-food products to customers. The Reverse Osmosis system can be purchased by contacting the New Era sales team or visiting the Reverse Osmosis product page for more information.

For further press information please contact us.

 

SPOTTED

We have put together a list of species which have benefitted from the New Era diet. It will be an ongoing project.

If you can add to the list, please contact us.

View the current list...

 

GOING SOFT

Fancy working up an appetite for sawdust or bricks? You will not find them on New Era Aquaculture's menu as their latest innovation turns the tide on pellet production.

While manufacturers produce flakes for this-that-and-the-other species of fish where is the innovation of feeding media? Finally, New Era Aquaculture have addressed this dilemma and launched their very versatile marine pellet product.

A soft pellet.

Over the last eighteen months marine fish throughout the UK have tasted, felt and shown the benefits of following New Era's Technical Feeding Strategy available in Flake and Spray formats; feedback from retailers and customers and even magazine panels has indeed been encouraging. In order to complete the set though, pellets became a 'must'.

After much prompting and support from their retailers New Era recently got the chance to put some thinking time into 'The problem with pellets is?'. Not only did they launch their ground-breaking Liposome Sprays for frozen foods eighteen months ago but have now come up with a palatable pellet guaranteed to tempt out even the most reserved little members of your tank, those that you thought you may have even lost!

With an innate understanding of fish biology, physiology, psychology and over twenty years in aquaculture Mark Wilson and his team have now reinvented their bar-raising Marine Flakes into an extruded pellet formulation. Now the benefits of using New Era's Marine Flakes can be enjoyed by more and larger tropical marine species.

Using the same dietary profile as New Era's Marine Flakes, the formula of whole natural ingredients and a tailored mineral profile has been modified to incorporate components that allow the ingredients to combine to a putty-like consistency. Extruded to diameter of 2mm and length of 4mm these soft pellets are ideal for a variety of feeding applications; in particular this small size is ideal for use in automatic feeding machines while others may prefer to mould a quantity into a larger ball to adhere to the sides of their tanks.

Marine Pellets have been designed to enhance colouration and keep your fish in peak condition by using natural carotenoid pigments and high quality proteins specific to the natural diet of marine species. The innovative formula also 'locks in' nutrients until consumed ensuring that leaching is kept to a minimum and that your fish are maximising the value of their food and minimising effluent pollution.

The pellets have an instant aroma that has been proven to be enticing to the shiest of gobies while the texture is plainly irresistible to all omnivorous tropical marine species especially those whose feeding routine is usually pellets.

Marine Pellets are available in 150g pots from Specialist Retailers around the UK, check out New Era's website for a full list of Retailers.

Fish Make the Catwalk

And this time big and vibrant is beautiful!

It has been one year since New Era Aquaculture Ltd launched their debut diets for Tropical Marine Fishes, revolutionising the design, manufacture and even application of feeds for the Marine hobbyist and indeed - Aquaria.

Last year saw the blue wave and sleek black packaging shake the industry as the market took stock of the latest player to carve a niche onto the retailers’ shelves. Many thought it was just a fad but with over 200 specialist marine stores now stocking New Era’s technical feeding products, a year on, the New Era Brand has now been elevated to ‘la mode’ status on the grapevine!

However, it’s not just about the chic packaging, feedback from retailers and their customers have proven that New Era’s ‘Technical Feeding Strategy’, a strategy that uses three different blends of flake in rotation, has had a marked improvement on the welfare and vitality of their fish.

Chris Aslet from Reef Ranch, Leeds says “New Era has taken the guess work out of the hobby. If you choose a New Era product you can rest assured that these will out-perform all other similar products on the market. Many hobbyists wish to provide the very best for their “animals”; with a New Era product you are doing just that!”.

The introduction of New Era’s Marine Liposome Sprays has brought ‘hi-tech’ innovation to fishkeeping: their fresh approach now means that nutritional enhancements can be incorporated into the feeding routine of the frozen food enthusiast.

New Era’s lipid technology acts as a carrier and binding agent that enables the nutrients to adhere to thawing food and enhance its nutritional value without leaching into the tank water. The value of the product being consumed and therefore not lost in filtration! A product already on the cutting edge of aquatic innovation, it too can be used in rotation with two other lipid formulas to support the fishes’ immune system - a handy three-part-set.

The latest complement to the New Era ‘collection’ saw a swathe of green make an appearance at the GLEE exhibition in September when their Tropical Flakes made a much anticipated and bold entrance into the market place.

Safe in the knowledge that the New Era diet ‘designers’ have a fine track record and plenty of expertise in the area of fish health and nutrition, tropical fish retailers and enthusiasts were eager to have a piece of the action. New Era’s Tropical Flakes are now available in 50g and 250g sizes and even though palatable to the most discerning tastes, they also mark the beginning of designer labels for cichlids and discus.

With nearly three decades of experience in aquatic nutrition, the people at Taunton Aquarium were surprised at the quality of New Era Aquaculture products. “They’re the best flakes I’ve sold in 28 years of working in aquatics.” Comments Mark Strawbridge “You’ll notice a difference in days. I let all my customers know what great products they are.”

Winter may be drawing in but the future’s bright for New Era and the aquatic fashionista as these technical diets make an indelible impression in Aquatic Retailers’ stores throughout the UK; this fad certainly looks here to stay!

New Era at GLEE
[Click for a larger image]

A New Tropical Product Will Have the Fish Thriving

A Doncaster company boss says that we should spend as much time thinking about the diets of fish as we do our own.

Mark Wilson, managing director of New Era Aquaculture, based in Thorne, South Yorkshire, adds: “What people feed their fish is extremely important and we should never overlook the importance of giving them properly balanced food. In this respect, their needs are the same as ours.”

His company has developed a new diet for tropical freshwater fish, drawing on over 20 years of ornamental aquaculture experience, and the product is due to be launched at the GLEE exhibition in Birmingham next month (September).The introduction of the tropical flake follows the fantastically successful launch of New Era’s marine range and technical feeding strategy last year, which indeed proved to fill a void in the marketplace. With over 150 specialist marine retailers throughout the UK now stocking their marine range and the enthusiastic uptake by hobbyists and public aquariums, the company responded to demand from the tropical sector for a high quality technical tropical freshwater flake.

Mark said: “What and how people feed their fish is of paramount importance as the right components in the right format can influence not only general health and well-being, but,also vitality and colouration. “At New Era we aim to provide technical diets that incorporate the latest technological advancements complementing current dietary knowledge in the field. As a result, we have made significant impact in the market by initially catering for the specialist marine fishkeeping enthusiast and aquaria, and we now hope to filter this expertise into the tropical arena.”

New Era’s tropical flakes are made from only natural ingredients and preservatives, and provide a unique mineral profile that has been exclusively formulated by New Era. They are a rich source of high quality protein and lipids to offer a complete balanced diet for tropical freshwater fish.“Our tropical flakes are scientifically designed to cater for delicate feeders and we are sure that we have created a formula that is irresistible to all community fish and South American species, including guppies, angels, tetras and discus.”

Mark adds: “We will be launching our tropical flake product at GLEE in September when we exhibit our products in the Petindex section. We are really looking forward to the launch as we know that our UK retailers are eager to get their hands on it and we are sure that it will generate a lot of interest in the Public Aquaria and tropical fish hobbyists market.”

GLEE sees the garden, leisure and pet industries gather at the NEC Birmingham every September to keep up to date with the latest product launches and retail ideas and network with contacts within the industry. The event takes place from September 17 – 19, attracting over 25,000 visitors and has 1,700 exhibitors across 12 product sectors.

An integral part of New Era’s business is their ongoing research and development, particularly in the areas of fish health and nutrition. Mark has been involved in numerous international breeding projects and believes that balanced diets are the foundation for successful projects.

New Era will be available at GLEE Stand no. G39 Hall 4

Reinventing the Flake

A feast in store for herbivorous fishes!

After the successful launch of their new technical feeds and supplements range last year the Product Design team at New Era Aquaculture have formulated a veritable feast for herbivorous tropical marine fishes.Having over 20 years research and development experience of marine ornamental aquaculture the team at New Era know all-too-well the difficulties of obtaining a complete balanced feed that satisfies all the requirements for healthy herbivorous fishes within one product.The quest to formulate a technical herbivorous flake food thus emerged, which soon brought to light why there was a dearth of such products on the market. The main obstacle Mark Wilson and the team faced occurred during the flaking process itself, as marine algae do not tend to bind well in this format. Undeterred the team took a scientific approach to solving this problem and set about reinventing ‘The Flake’ by focussing on the algal properties which would allow the ingredients to be processed in a way that would also retain their nutritional qualities. They had also decided that it was a prerequisite that the final product should cater for the particular requirements of bottom-dwelling species and the peculiar palate of delicate feeders which had implications regarding the type of ingredients required.

Enough of the science what’s in it for the fish? New Era’s Herbivore Flakes contain a blend of five algae’s that have been sourced from around the globe and chosen for their capacity to cater for the requirement of the many differing herbivorous species.The formula provides the essential protein profile which is no mean feat when talking green stuff!

It contains natural pigments, sourced only from algal sources, to restore vivid colouration and is complemented by New Era’s own combination of minerals and vitamins that will overcome any variation and seasonal availability of algae.Trials of the flake were quick to discover that even the most delicate palate was keen to try the samples within seconds and further study revealed dramatic recuperation of colour and vitality, see pic below of clarity of the eye.This new product extends the Marine and Aegis range of technical feeds and supplements for coral reef fish, all of which are available in 30g pots and 200g pails plus a spray for frozen foods, which were launched late last year. For further information +/or photographs please contact us.

Doncaster company nets trade success at major international exhibition

As the country’s footballers seek glory on the world stage in Germany, one South Yorkshire business has returned from the same country with a tankful of enquiries for its aquatic products.Aquatic nutrition specialists New Era Aquaculture Ltd from Thorne, near Doncaster, ‘scored’ at an international exhibition in Nuremburg, one of the host cities for this year’s World Cup.The company, which sells a range of technical feeding diets to public aquariums and marine and tropical fish hobbyists, received more than 120 enquiries from 33 different countries at the Interzoo Pet Products exhibition, which saw the official international launch of its latest technical feeds and supplements range and New Era’s unique feeding system for marine coral reef fish speciesInterzoo is one of the largest international pet exhibitions. Held every two years, it is a significant event for wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers from all over the world.As well as showcasing its latest products, the company also managed to attract highlight several new international distributors during the four day export drive in Germany and is confident of orders from as far afield as France, Germany, Bahrain, Singapore and Poland.Peter Kersh, Non-Executive Chairman of New Era Aquaculture, said: “The exhibition took place right next to the football stadium in Nuremburg and was a great setting for our first ever international exhibition, with the city gearing up for the world cup.“The whole trip was a real success. We made some great contacts on the continent, raising the profile of both our company and our latest products.“We’ve received a number of strong trade enquiries and will definitely be looking to expand our business abroad again in the near future, including exhibitions in Singapore and Orlando next year.“The exhibition wasn’t just about sales though, it was also about educating potential users about the strength of our products and the potential health and welfare benefits for their fish.”New Era Aquaculture recently moved to its new premises on Coulman Street, Thorne having been set up in Grimsby two years ago. The New Era team has over 20 years experience in the development of marine ornamental aquaculture, hatchery breeding programmes and dietary feeds and supplements.

Released on behalf of New Era Aquaculture by HR Media Ltd.

For more information please contact us.