Atlantic Sapphire has reported harvests of 700 metric tons head-on gutted weight during the third quarter of 2021 at its land-based farm in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., and expects a steady increase in biomass gain going forward.
According to the company’s latest monthly update, its harvests earned an average price of USD 7.00 (EUR 6.07) per kilogram. That price is an improvement on earlier this year when prices hovered just below USD 7.00 per kilogram, but are still well below the USD 9.40 (EUR 8.15) per kilogram Atlantic Sapphire salmon was fetching towards the end of 2020.
At the beginning of October, the company launched a major promotional campaign to mark the start of weekly sales of its Bluehouse Salmon at 1,280 Publix grocery stores across the country.
Publix has been an ongoing purchaser and supporter of Atlantic Sapphire products throughout 2021, and sales have been solid at the chain, even outside of Florida.
However, Bluehouse Salmon has apparently not been as succesul at other retailers. The company was dropped from supermarket chains Giant Eagle and Wegmans – Atlantic Sapphire products have disappeared from both websites and inventories.
According to the company, there are about 2,000 retail locations carrying its salmon in the U.S. right now.
The past nine months have been tumultuous for Atlantic Sapphire, which reported a net loss of USD 51.5 million (EUR 43.81 million) in the first six months of 2021 and had its stock price take a plunge at multiple points, including a drop in August after the company stated it was having issues supplying oxygen to its U.S. location amidst the state’s battle against COVID-19.
The company has also reported two mass-mortality incidents at its Miami farm, and in mid-September, a fire destroyed the company’s Danish facility. The cause of the fire is still be investigated, but the facility was insured for its full book value of approximately USD 33 million (EUR 28.5 million).
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Sapphire
