The Gjendemsjø family has been innovative for generations. It all started in 1949 when Lauritz decided to be a fisherman instead of taking over his family farm. Since then, he was a fisherman by heart. He later became a pioneer by building the first fishing boat designed with thrusters. In the late 60's, Lauritz wanted to take things to a new level and increase the value of the fish they caught. This was the beginning of a wonderful adventure that the shared with his son Leif Kjetil.

As a young child Leif Kjetil wanted to help his father and at the age of 8 he started his career cutting cod tongues in his father`s fish processing-factory and selling them as delicacy to relatives and neighbors. He learned early that we should only harvest what we need and utilize everything we harvest from nature. This has become a mantra that he have brought with him ever since.

Growing up, Leif Kjetil used to help out at the factory after school, and as his father he also fell in love with the profession. As he grew older he was driving along the Norwegian coast selling fish products to local shops, while he also took on more responsibility and started developing new products and packaging.

To optimize the utilization of the trimmings from the processing plant, Lauritz and Leif Kjetil got the idea to use residual material from the fish to produce fish protein and fish oil and in 1986 Ocean Napro (later called Napro Pharma) was established. They produced marine products in two piece hard gelatin capsules and packed it in bottles. They were actually among the first in the world to put fish oil and fish protein in two piece hard gelatin capsules.

Leif Kjetil and his partners established Ocean Lipro and built their first omega-3 factory in Brattvåg. When Brødrene Aarsether’s Cod Liver oil factory came for sale in 1989 they saw a great opportunity and decided to buy the factory in Ålesund, which was the largest cod liver oil factory in Norway. Leif Kjetil and his team changed the factory from being a cod liver oil factory to become one of the first factories in the world to produce omega-3 concentrates.

Leif Kjetil sold his shares in Ocean Lipro to devote more of his time on Napro Pharma. Together with partners he started another company (Norwegian Oils) that was located next to Napro Pharma, which was focused on omega-3 concentrates and natural marine oils. These two companies later merged into Napro Pharma.

As the years passed, Leif Kjetil had been greatly influenced by his father’s way of thinking. And when Napro Pharma was sold to Cognis, they had created one of the most successful and innovative Omega-3 fish oil companies in the world.

Leif Kjetil began planning the next step for the Gjendemsjø family. He wanted to create a paradigm shift in the Omega-3 industry - with focus on eco-friendly and flexible production, R&D, sustainable raw materials and new healthy marine lipids. With a game changing concept ready – Pharma Marine™ was established, with the aim to develop new and healthy natural lipids from sustainable marine sources, with a focus on utilizing the trimmings from food production of seafood.

A new state-of-the-art factory was built with an experienced international team with versatile professionals in the field of lipid production. Two of the team members, Ingjerd Lystad (Chief Production Officer) and Martin Frostad (Chief Technical Officer), have been working with omega-3 oils together with Leif Kjetil since 1994 and 1988, first at Ocean Lipro then Napro Pharma and now at Pharma Marine™. So it is safe to say they are a team that complement each other and work very well together. They are probably the most experienced team in the industry.

It was very important for Pharma Marine™ that the new product would be from sustainable raw materials and we wanted to bring something new to the omega-3 market. The idea about omega-3 oil from squid was born in 2007, and in 2009 the first batch with CalaMarine® was produced. This product became the first omega-3 concentrates in the world made from trimmings of food production of squid.

In 2011 Pharma Marine™ saw the need of being able to offer customers the more classic type of fish oil from anchovies, sardines and mackerel and launched the ingredient line LipidMarine™. This is a line with a wide range of high quality EPA and DHA oils with a great sensory profile.

Leif Kjetil had for a long time had a dream about using the trimmings, not only the liver, from Norwegian fishing boats to produce omega-3 oils. Being from a fisher family he knew very well that the fishermen were looking for ways to utilize the trimmings of food production of wild-caught fish. When the knowledgeable and innovative Norwegian fisheries invested in production of fish oil and fish meal onboard the fishing vessels – they became the perfect supplier and partner for Pharma Marine. As a result of this, CodMarine® was launched in 2014. Because of this collaboration with the local fisheries the CodMarine® – products has a tracing system, making it possible for the consumer to trace their oil back to the fishing vessel and the area the fish was caught.

After a lot of thinking and experimenting about how we could help consumers increase their omega-3 intake, GourmetMarine™ was developed in 2016. Knowing that not all consumers want to take liquid oil on a spoon or soft gels, we wanted to find a way to help more people get omega-3 in their diet. By formulating premium quality omega-3 oil with healthy vegetable oils we are able to provide consumers with a delicious oil they can use on their food. With GourmetMarine™ we hope to inspire more people to get omega-3 in to their diet. We continue to develop our technologies and methods to be sure we always supply our customers with an oil with superior sensory profile that is optimized for both our products and the consumers. In the end of 2016 we installed a specially developed liquid bottling line so we can offer our customers finished product with unique formulations bottled at our facility in Norway.

We installed a new machine in 2018 for filling oil in sachets. This new delivery form will make it more convenient for the consumers to get their daily dosage in a single package, and for them to bring fresh oil on travels or just out for lunch. It is also the perfect delivery form for Pharma Marine`s customers to use for sampling.

Pharma Marine always work to provide premium products that makes it convenient for everyone to get their daily dosage of the important omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), that is why we launched a plant based product in 2020. VegMarine™ is a product line with superior sensory profile oils produced from sustainable micro algae in closed and sterile systems.

We are proud of Pharma Marine being a family business with family values at its core. We believe in close relationships with our partners, our employees, and our local community. And, of course, an enduring respect for nature. Outside our doorstep on Terøy, there is a vast sea of possibilities. For our planet, our health, and future generations.