Genetically engineered salmon farmer AquaBounty Technologies has announced that purchase orders have been received for the planned harvest of five metric tons of its genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon. The company expects the first commercial-scale harvest to commence at the end of May at its Albany, Indiana, farm,
“Everybody is just so excited,” AquaBounty President and CEO Sylvia Wulf told SeafoodSource. “We have a brand-new processing area at the farm that we’ve been testing throughout the sampling process. We’ve been talking with a a lot of new customers. Everything is coming together.”
Since February, the company has conducted small harvests of its AquAdvantage salmon and sent samples to interested clients for home-stretch quality checks.
“We heard a lot of great feedback from the sampling process,” Wulf said. “What we were really looking for was feedback on color and flavor. The color has looked good, the texture has been good. The feedback that we've had is that the flavor is clean, but it doesn't taste like wild-caught. We believe that milder, clean salmon taste will actually attract more consumers into the category.”
AquaBounty Executive Chef Charlie Baggs, from Charlie Bags Culinary Innovations, said the combination of a sustainable product with high quality that’s grown locally in the U.S. will make AquaBounty’s salmon a key part of meeting increasing demand.
“AquaBounty’s salmon represents a critically important solution to meeting growing consumer demand and does so in a way that is sustainable,” Baggs said. “Their Atlantic salmon provides foodservice operators and retailers with salmon locally raised and harvested in the U.S.A, which is good for the environment and their customers. After tasting the product, the quality is excellent with firm texture, vibrant color and a clean taste. I believe these positive attributes will drive consumer purchases.”
Wulf declined to provide any new information on customers that will be purchasing from the company’s first harvest, citing the constant pushback from various environmental groups that have spoken out against genetically modified products since AquaBounty was founded. Of course, clients who are interested in making their purchases public before they turn around and attempt to make their own sales are welcome to – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based wholesale restaurant supplier Samuels & Sons made its plans to purchase and sell AquAdvantage salmon public in March.
“AquaBounty’s sustainable land-based operations have a lower carbon footprint with reduced transportation requirements than Atlantic salmon that we import from other suppliers, and that’s exactly what this industry needs to feed a growing population,” Joe Lasprogata, vice president of new product development at Samuels and Son Seafood Co., said. “AquaBounty’s genetically engineered salmon is a reliable and efficient source of salmon that is a product of the U.S.A., tastes delicious and looks great. We can’t wait to share this with our customers.”
AquaBounty plans on making sure its customers are well-informed on the farming process, providing information to sales teams of purchasing clients.
Wulf did not disclose any financial information on how much the company expected to earn with its first harvest, but reaffirmed that AquaBounty intends to go into the market as an affordable seafood option, not a premium product.
AquAdvantage salmon finally hitting the market should help the company turn around financially. In March, AquaBounty reported a net loss of USD 16.4 million (EUR 13.8 million) in 2020 and a fourth quarter net loss of USD 6.1 million (EUR 5.1 million). Revenue in the first quarter of 2021 was USD 74,000 (EUR 61,676) compared to USD 7,000 (EUR 5,834) in the same period of 2020. Net loss in the first quarter of 2021 was USD 4.2 million (EUR 3.5 million), compared to USD 3.1 million (2.58 million) in the same period of 2020.
The losses have left investors undeterred – the latest stock offering in February generated USD 127 million (EUR 104 million) for the company, which will be put toward the costs of constructing a new production farm, investing in sales and marketing, research and development efforts, and payments of anticipated general and administrative costs.
Plus, as harvests begin, the decades of research and development on its AquAdvantage salmon will begin to generate revenue.
“The Indiana farm has been a user of cash and now it will be a generator of cash,” Wulf said. “It's our expectation that those losses will reduce. [The farm] is not big enough to get us to break even, but it definitely will change the nature of the loss.”
AquaBounty is moving toward finalizing the location of its third fish farm, expected to have a 10,000-metric-ton production capacity. While Wulf declined to provide details on the locations, she confirmed that the final site has been identified and the price has been negotiated. As paperwork is finalized by the site’s state officials, an announcement on the site’s location should be expected in the coming months.
Photo courtesy of AquaBounty
