A Swiss land-based salmon farm will install its own smokehouse in a few weeks, reports Swiss newssite Sudostschweiz.
The farm, in the town of Lostallo, in Graubünden, southern Switzerland, is the first in the country. It was established this spring by Swiss Alpine Fish AG, and has now bred around 20,000 rainbow trout to start with.
The first harvest of trout was initially planned for Easter, but that planning turned out to be over-optimistic. The sale of the first fish had to be postponed by three months, which had financial consequences. The share capital had to be increased by CHF 400,000 francs. The entire facility cost around CHF 18 million, which was invested by a group of twenty investors and a major Swiss bank.
The salmon at the farm is in the meantime growing well. The first salmon farmed in Switzerland will be on the market next spring.
Shop and smokehouse
In the next few weeks, a smokehouse will be installed in the same building as the farm. Ten percent of the farmed trout will then be smoked in Lostallo. The remainder will be delivered to retailer Coop and to fish distributors.
The company already opened a shop at the farm location, so the products of the farm can be purchased there directly.
Eggs from Iceland
The Swiss farm plans to grow 600 tons of rainbow trout every year. The fish swim in a 32-metre long tank and are grown on from ova flown in from Iceland every other month. The company used 200 tons of salt in the first twelve months to ensure the required salt content in the water.
