Ultra-premium brand Verlasso expanding into Europe and China.
AquaChile CEO Sady Delgado spoke at this year’s North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) on the Policy Makers & Industry Captains session. Due to COVID, the annual seafood industry conference was digital-only this year.
Beamed in from Chile, Delgado said that in 2020, the salmon farmer produced 260,000 tonnes of fish (WFE) in 2020, 248,000 of which was salmon (Atlantic, coho and trout), with the rest being tilapia. Its biggest markets were Chile, USA, Russia, Japan and Brazil.
“We’ve just reorganized our baseline. From March this year, our worldwide global brand for salmon is Aqua. While our ultra-premium brand is Verlasso. The Verlasso salmon has been successful in the USA. So this year we are expanding the brand into Europe and China,” he said.
He added that salmon farmers “have a challenge to go deeper into distribution channels”.
“So for doing it, it is essential to offer products ready to eat, ready to cook without the need for reprocessing them at supermarkets, restaurants or even at home. It is the way AquaChile is going forward. We are upgrading our primary processing plants in Chile, to move into more value-added products. And soon, we may start secondary processing at our main markets,” said Geldado.
Delgado told SalmonBusiness that he wanted to start in the USA.
“Our team is setting up the proper investments and logistics for serving orders in a 24-hour style. So very soon, I expect to announce very good news in terms of logistics, products and brands,” he added.
