Investor Urges Aquaculture to Align with The ‘Food Revolution’

More consumers and investors will come to the aquaculture\r\nsector’s door if the industry responds to people’s growing concern about what\r\nthey are eating, and if it actively shares the impacts that its production has\r\non the environment and the health benefits that its products offer, according\r\nto a prominent agriculture investor.

Speaking at the two-day Aquaculture Innovation Europe\r\nconference in London, John Coast Sullenger, associate principle at GAIA, said\r\nthat aquaculture has “incredible potential” to capitalize on the shifting human\r\ndiet and that it should continue to adopt new innovations to build its case. He\r\nadded that establishing direct connections with consumers to dispel some of the\r\npast misgivings about the farming of fish is also essential.

“We are in a food revolution. There are lots of signs\r\npointing to a breaking with the past – challenging the monopolistic structure\r\nthat exists within food and agriculture. Also, the message from the consumer to\r\nthese producers is not really connecting,” he said. “It’s clear that the\r\nconsumer – more than ever before – is aware, and that’s the important paradigm\r\nthat we are in today.”

That awareness is something that food producers, including\r\naquaculture, should pay attention to and take advantage of. Aquaculture has a\r\nlot to gain from the current awareness, as it could allow the industry to\r\nescape old stigmas. 

“Today, it’s important to align with the principles of the\r\nfood revolution. It’s all about green label, clean label, and it has to have\r\nESG (environmental, social and governance). Those are really important things,”\r\nSullenger said. “Consumers and investors still have old ideas about fish\r\nfarming. I’m not suggesting that there aren’t any issues around sustainability\r\nwithin the industry, but they don’t recognize the improvements made in terms of\r\nthe regulatory environment and also animal health, such as the move from\r\nantibiotics to vaccines. I believe that when that message is told, and also\r\nthose about the health benefits, people have a very positive reaction.”

With regards to effective consumer dialogue, Sullenger\r\noffered this advice, “Use social media, align with experts on health issues\r\nthat can also carry the message too, because I do feel that message still has\r\nroom to grow.”

GAIA has evaluated some of the more attractive spaces within\r\nfood and agriculture for investment, he explained. This has led it to look at\r\nprobiotics and dairy, stable packaging, plant-based food, including meat, and\r\nalso aquaculture. 

“We’ve defined aquaculture as one of the areas in this new\r\nparadigm that has a lot of potential,” Sullenger said. “Aquaculture fits into\r\nthe protein challenge. With a population that’s going to 9 or 10 billion, with\r\na 35 percent increase in the demand for food, there’s a magnified increase in\r\nthe protein requirement. And in burgeoning countries, particularly where people\r\nsee their disposable income move from USD 300 [EUR 272] to USD 320 [EUR 290]\r\nand USD 350 [EUR 317] per month, we know that one of the first things they do\r\nis move to a richer diet, and a richer diet is protein.”

Sullenger told delegates that GAIA has been encouraged by\r\nthe considerable innovation in food production, and while change won’t happen\r\novernight, it is already clear that a key part of the food revolution is the\r\nreversion back to healthier diets. 

He said another important driver is the environmental impact\r\nof food production, particularly the amount of inputs per outputs, as well as\r\nthe space to expand and water usage, and acknowledged aquaculture’s strength in\r\nthese areas compared with land-based meat production.

Looking ahead, he anticipates that circumstances,\r\nparticularly the contracting availability of suitable coastal waters for\r\nexpansion, will dictate that recirculation and land-based aquaculture systems\r\nwill increase in prominence. At the same time, pressures relating to feed\r\ningredients will lead to more innovation in that field.

“There’s a lot of critique about feeding fish with soy etc.\r\nI’m not an expert, but clearly there’s benefits in terms of omega-3s coming\r\nfrom sustainable feeds based on algae, for example. Although it is very\r\nexpensive right now, it’s very encouraging to see algae as a feedstuff – there\r\nare lots of ways to produce it, and it’s only a matter of time before we see a\r\nlot more,” he said. “We really are in an environment where the incumbent food\r\noperators, wherever they are in the industry chain, are being challenged by the\r\nthousands and thousands of innovations from the smaller companies. We’re seeing\r\nthis across all segments.”

While the future prospects of innovation are exciting,\r\nSullenger also cautions that changing any current operating practices and\r\nrealigning an industry – not to mention consumer preferences and perception –\r\nis no easy task. 

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“These are big super tankers, and to turn them around and\r\nalign them with these trends is very challenging,” he said.

Source : Seafoodsource