Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon-farming firm Ventisqueros is looking to take advantage of innovative trends in frozen technology as it aims to carry out more targeted sales strategies.
“We have been working on a new strategy in order to take our commercial efforts to a new level and look at the world in a different way – to move from a mindset of an exporter of salmon to a commercializer of salmon,” Ventisqueros Chief Commercial Officer Javier Calvo told SeafoodSource. “I think that will become very relevant for consumers in the future for many reasons. You need to understand how to position the brand, how to position your products, and what needs you are answering to be at the right price but also to be able to capitalize on being a better salmon company. You need the type of customers who will be able to value that.”
Ventisqueros’ fish can be ready for export in just four hours after slaughter, and to ensure freshness and quality in its frozen products, the firm is looking at innovative technology in the space, Calvo explained.
“We are studying different freezing technology that is 20 percent more efficient in terms of energy use and 20 percent more efficient in terms of speed. So, in the end, you're consuming less energy, you are generating less carbon dioxide, and by using this technology, we will also deliver a product that is going to have a totally different standard. It will be superior to what the country is exporting in terms of frozen products,” he said. “By having better quality frozen products, you can aim for a refresh afterward in the destination markets. By using this new technology, we will be able to get to a quality that is very similar to fresh salmon. We feel that frozen salmon will probably gain momentum and more space. We are seeing the trends in the U.S., [where] the growth of frozen salmon last year was the biggest in the last six years, and hopefully this will be the same in other markets that are still demanding fresh.”
At the same time, Ventisqueros is seeking to commercially dive deeper and diversify in existing markets. Instead of selling to as many countries as possible, it aims to have strong clusters of markets and develop customers who match with the company’s values of product quality and sustainability, Calvo said, adding that the company strategy actually has resulted in a decrease in the number of markets served, falling to 17 markets last year from 28 in 2024.
“Obviously, we ran a lot of analysis in order to determine which were the best 17 markets for us to focus on. For instance, a market that is only buying fresh Atlantic salmon or frozen Atlantic salmon is different than a market that is buying the two species [coho and Atlantic] in both stages of conservation [fresh and frozen],” he said. “I can tell you that we will aim heavily for Israel where we have not been strong; in China, we're making some changes in the distribution, and we're going to have a partnership with a company in order to sell there.”
With those moves, as well as an increased focus on value-added products under its Silverside brand, its coho production, and other new products such as smoked salmon, Ventisqueros is looking to grow its sales by 9.5 percent this year, Calvo said, adding that reaching that goal will depend in part on international prices.
Calvo said the support of Ventisqueros’ parent company, German holding company Schörghuber Group, has underpinned the Chilean company’s growth drive. More specifically, Schörghuber hired an international consultancy firm that helped Ventisqueros define areas throughout the company – such as processing, farming, and human resources – to transform and create value to the tune of USD 60 million (EUR 51.6 million).
Schörghuber tested the waters of selling the salmon-farming firm in 2023; however, the German group decided to pull Ventisqueros off the market following first-round talks. Since then, Schörghuber has ruled out any consideration of a sale, emphasizing that it will take advantage of the current momentum of the global industry to continue profitable growth.
“In our case, we have no plans to even ask for a price [and possibly selling the company]. We’re totally committed to developing our own business and to keep focusing on quality,” Calvo said.
On the flip side, Ventisqueros is also not focused on acquiring other assets.
While acquisitions are not expressly ruled out, the focus will mostly be on organic growth, Calvo added.
“We're constantly looking at the best way of growing. The investment that we're going to do is going to be on a freshwater site. We want to increase and improve quality. We want to modernize that part of the supply chain in order to have better quality of products in the sea. Growth will be achieved through optimization,” he said.
Meanwhile, there have been some changes in Schörghuber management with new, ambitious executives coming on board, “so we're very excited about the future,” Calvo said.
