Sustainably farmed yellow perch has developed into a booming business for Bell Aquaculture of Redkey, Ind., which plans to break ground on a new 86,000-square-feet facility in early October. Already, the five-year-old company produces 24,000 pounds of perch monthly from its two aquaculture facilities, which encompass about 56,000 square feet.
SeafoodSource recently talked with Norman McCowan, president and CEO of Bell Aquaculture, about the company’s production growth and its expansion into the retail market.
Blank: How much yellow perch are you producing currently, and how much will volume increase with the expansion?
McCowan: We are producing about 24,000 pounds a month, but we are going to push that upward of 35,000 pounds a month starting in October. We hope to break ground on our next production level facility in the first part of October, and have that building completed by the first of April 2011. We are trying to include the latest and greatest in technology. We are looking at water hydraulics and the efficiency of the overall process. The first harvest coming out of the building would then be on July 1, 2011. That will add another 60,000 pounds a month to our production.
Why did you decide to expand production?
The demand for our product has exceeded our capacity. The market is ready for sustainable seafood: people are making healthier choices and they want to see that their products are locally grown. We are in the testing phases of deriving our perch’s protein source from soybeans rather than fishmeal, through a partnership with Perdue University. We have really seen the demand increase from some of the larger restaurants we sell to, such as Clementine’s in South Haven, Mich., and from our distributor, Stanz Foodservice in South Bend, Ind. Our perch is going to all types of restaurants, from local bars to high-end restaurants.
How do you plan to expand in the retail market?
We are already in some retail locations, but we are looking to expand in that market. We are developing a 1-pound package of fillets for meat markets and grocery stores. We should have that by the end of this year, as a small part of our production. Once you develop the product in the package, then you never know who is going to knock on your door.
Bell Aquaculture recently completed the Indiana Department of Agriculture’s voluntary Certified Livestock Producer Program, making you one of the few aquaculture facilities in the U.S. to achieve this designation. What was involved?
The whole process took six months to complete. IDA developed the program to recognize commitment to the industry, including the environment, food-safety plans and being a good neighbor. It speaks to the quality of our operation and the mentality that we need to have, being a responsible company.
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