25 Years of The Factory – More Than 3 Decades of Partnership
Aller Aqua Poland celebrates the 25th anniversary of its factory in Golub-Dobrzyń. The year 2026 marks two important milestones for Aller Aqua Poland. The first is the 25th anniversary of the Polish factory, while the second is 35 years of partnership and contribution to the development of Polish aquaculture.
Today, Golub-Dobrzyń is home not only to a production facility manufacturing high-quality extruded aqua feeds but also to an independent business unit within the Aller Aqua Group, with a structure that covers the entire commercial product cycle – from production and logistics to sales and marketing. The factory operates a production line for extruded feeds ranging from 2 to 20 mm. The facility is equipped with an automated packaging line, significantly accelerating the entire process, from production through to the loading of finished pallets. Aller Aqua Poland currently employs around 50 people, approximately 35 of whom work at the factory site in Golub-Dobrzyń. Moreover, in addition to serving the Polish market, Aller Aqua Poland supplies more than 20 countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Picture 1. Aller Aqua Polska’s production facility in Golub-Dobrzyń
How Did Aller Aqua Contribute to the Transformation of Aquaculture In Poland?
To answer this question, we need to go back to 1990, when extruded feeds were not yet widely known in Poland. At the time, Polish trout farmers – and this is where our story begins – relied on traditional, well-established methods to feed their fish, primarily using a mixture of by-products from marine fish processing and feed yeast. From the perspective of today’s farmer, it is remarkable that as much as 10 kg of feed was needed to produce 1 kg of trout. Unfortunately, this method was inefficient, posed a risk of environmental pollution and unpleasant odors, and, above all, offered little control over farming results, resulting in unstable production.
Following the systemic transformation in 1990, Polish entrepreneurs gained new opportunities to run their businesses and new tools to develop. The same was true for the Polish aquaculture industry.
Jacek Juchniewicz, founder and former President of Aller Aqua Poland
One of the impulses for changes in fish feeding practices came during a visit to Denmark, where Polish fish farmers encountered extruded fish feed for the first time. This form of feed offered numerous advantages over traditional feeding methods, above all, enabling more predictable and stable production and providing incomparably higher feed digestibility. Moreover, this method did not negatively affect water conditions or cleanliness on the farm. Impressed by this modern feeding technology, one of the farmers, Jacek Juchniewicz, used his excellent command of English to establish contact with the Danish company Aller Mølle [today Aller Aqua], represented by Hans Erik Bylling and Henrik Halken.
Picture 2. From Aller Mølle to Aller Aqua – the evolution of feed packaging.
From 11 Truckloads To 10,000 Tonnes Of Feed
An increasing number of Polish trout farmers were willing to try the Danish feeding technology, which opened up entirely new possibilities for the development of their businesses and production. As a result, in 1991, a total of 11 trucks filled with bags of Aller Mølle feed arrived in Poland – approximately 260 tonnes of feed. By 2000, this figure had already reached... 10,000 tonnes. Feeding salmonids extruded feed became standard practice, and farmers gained a new tool that enabled them to achieve higher, more stable production results. Most importantly, by using the same tools as farmers in Western Europe and Scandinavia, they could continue to develop and professionalize Polish aquaculture.
It was Juchniewicz who brought the first “pellets” to Poland. At the time, no one could have imagined how profoundly this relationship would influence Juchniewicz’s life or how significantly it would contribute to the development of modern fish nutrition in Poland.
Picture 3. Jacek Juchniewicz with employees in front of Aller Aqua’s first office in Poland.
The scale that the industry has reached today is well illustrated by independent data. According to Eurostat, Polish aquaculture produced 43,554 tonnes of products in 2024, accounting for 4.3% of the European Union's total aquaculture production and placing Poland fifth among EU producers. Together with the Czech Republic, Poland is also one of the EU’s largest carp producers. The two countries account for approximately half of the total EU carp production.
Demand for Aller Aqua feed grew alongside the dynamic development of aquaculture in Poland. At some point, the scale became so large that continuing to import the feed no longer made much sense. That was when the decision was made to build a factory in Poland.
Jacek Juchniewicz, founder and former President of Aller Aqua Poland
Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day…
Golub-Dobrzyń, a small town in central Poland, was selected as the location for the factory. Its proximity to the country’s main transport routes provided efficient logistics and placed it “halfway” between fish farmers in northern and southern Poland.
Photo 4. Historical photo from the early stages of construction of the Golub-Dobrzyń facility.
Construction of the factory began in February 2001 and continued until the end of June that same year. The opening ceremony was attended by partners, customers, representatives of the local authorities, and representatives of Aller Aqua’s Danish organization.
Picture 5. From left: Hans Erik Bylling’s brother and business partner, his son, Hans Erik Bylling, Joanna and Jacek Juchniewicz during the opening ceremony of the Golub-Dobrzyń facility.
The following years of activity by the factory and the Aller Aqua Poland team are vividly reflected in the numbers. As early as 2003, the first shipments of Aller Aqua feed left Golub-Dobrzyń for Lithuania and Ukraine, marking the beginning of another chapter in the history of the Polish facility. By 2006, production had reached 22,000 tonnes of feed – more than twice the total sales volume on the Polish market in 2000.
This meant that Polish farmers were not the only ones willing to adopt and successfully use the feeding technology offered by Aller Aqua. Over time, the Polish factory became the heart of Aller Aqua’s activities not only in Poland, but throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The markets served by the Polish business continued to grow and professionalize, accompanied by production exceeding 40,000 tonnes of feed in the year preceding the factory’s 25th anniversary. And with every single bag of Aller Aqua feed leaving the Polish factory come new opportunities for further development...
Today, the Golub-Dobrzyń facility maintains stable production operating on a four-shift system, while the factory’s further development is focused primarily on innovation and improvements. These include optimising the way naturally occurring pigments are added to feed and increasing the number of silos, enabling larger quantities of raw materials to be stored. The factory also has an in-house laboratory that, in addition to testing raw materials and feeds for nutrient content, physical parameters, and moisture, works with the Voivodeship Veterinary Inspectorate and external laboratory units to carry out independent testing of raw materials and feeds.
In 1991, a Polish trout farmer needed approximately 10 kg of a mixture of fish-processing waste and yeast to produce 1 kg of trout. Today, modern aquaculture is based on balanced extruded feeds, precision feeding, and informed production management; in the case of trout, the feed conversion ratio can be approximately 1:1 rather than 10:1 (approximately 1 kg of feed is required to produce 1 kg of trout).
This difference illustrates the transformation Polish aquaculture has undergone over the past three decades. It was not achieved by a single company or a single technology. Above all, it was achieved by fish farmers who were open to change and development. They were the ones who took the step towards new solutions and consistently developed their farms. For more than 35 years, Aller Aqua has been part of this journey, providing feed, technology, and specialist knowledge that help turn opportunities into increasingly efficient, predictable, and professional production.
For this reason, the 25th anniversary of the Golub-Dobrzyń factory is about more than celebrating a production facility. It represents 25 years of shared development – of the factory, its people, fish farmers, and the markets that Aller Aqua Poland serves today. The journey of Aller Aqua Poland is a story that has helped shaping who we are and the guiding principle we stand by today: LET’S GROW TOGETHER!
