Chilean salmon farmer AquaChile has achieved carbon neutrality in the production of its Verlasso salmon.
Verlasso, the company’s premium farmed salmon brand, has been in the North American market for a decade and was recently introduced into Brazilian and Asian markets.
“Since its origin, Verlasso has been a pioneering brand in sustainability and it is due to this very reason that today we are taking a new step in this direction by achieving carbon neutrality in production,” AquaChile Commercial Manager Vincente de la Cruz said.
AquaChile said it worked with sustainability consultancy GreenTicket to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the Verlasso production chain. The company began by measuring its carbon footprint via an environmental product declaration (EPD), and then reduced emissions by implementing a number of initiatives in different areas of the production process on Verlasso's farms, grow-out centers, and industrial plants.
“We are convinced of the importance of productive companies like AquaChile advancing towards having carbon-neutral production. This is a progressive and long path [and] it is noteworthy that Verlasso is now carbon neutral,” GreenTicket Managing Partner Cristian Andler said.
Verlasso was the first farmed fish to achieve the Good Alternative rating by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, and it is 4-Star Best Aquaculture Practices-certified and harvested from Aquaculture Stewardship Council-certified sites.
The company touts the Verlasso's “richness and flavor like nowhere else on the planet,” thanks to being raised in convergence zones along Chile’s coast where low-salinity waters circulate through the farms.
AquaChile has been active in exploring a variety of marketing efforts for Verlasso and enlisted celebrity chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern to document AquaChile's production methods at is salmon-production facility in Chile.
As Chile’s largest salmon producer and the second-largest worldwide, resulting from a 2018 sector consolidation, AquaChile has commercial presence in 40 countries, with more than 350 direct customers. It has nearly 6,000 employees. In 2021, it recorded a profit of USD 62.9 million (EUR 57.9 million), versus a loss of USD 26.6 million (EUR 24.5 million) in 2020. Its 2021 revenue was USD 1.18 billion (EUR 1.09 billion), up from USD 1.14 billion (EUR 1.05 billion) the previous year.
Photo courtesy of AquaChile