Turbot, sole, and caviar producer Stolt Sea Farm (SSF) has placed its innovation program, Aquaculture Tech, in the hands of Kaleido Technology ApS.
Aquaculture Tech seeks to identify and guide challenges to find the best technological solutions for SSF, a subsidiary of the Norwegian multinational Stolt-Nielsen. These solutions are specifically designed and pilot-tested to verify the viability of each project. The program is part of the Saws Tech initiative.
Announcing the move, SSF said that Denmark-headquartered Kaleido Technology had experience with similar projects in other industries and had also shown a special interest in this new program.
Kaleido is owned by Chinese company AAC Technologies.
Established in Norway in 1972, SSF operates 15 land-based farms. Of these, seven are located in Spain, while Iceland, France, Portugal, and Norway each have one farm. SSF’s four farms in California produce sturgeon and Sterling Caviar. In total, these farms have an annual production capacity of 5,400 metric tons (MT) of turbot, 850 MT of sole, 500 MT of sturgeon, and 10 MT of caviar.
The business recently reported a fourth-quarter 2019 operating profit of USD 1.7 million (EUR 1.6 million), up from an operating loss of USD 400,000 (EUR 369,693) in the third-quarter. The fair-value adjustment of inventories was USD 800,000 (EUR 739,369) in Q4 2019, compared with a negative adjustment of USD 2.5 million (EUR 2.3 million) in the previous quarter.
Its revenue for the last quarter fell USD 1.6 million (EUR 1.5 million) from the previous three-month period to USD 26.6 million (EUR 24.6 million), with its turbot sales revenue decreasing by 9.1 percent due to lower volumes compared to the seasonally stronger third-quarter. However, its sole revenue climbed 9.1 percent with increases seen in both price and volume. SSF’s caviar revenue also increased in the quarter, driven by both higher volume and prices.
SSF is anticipating seasonally strong results from its turbot operations in the first quarter of this year. Additionally, the first of its two new recirculation farms has been stocked with juveniles, with the first products expected by the end of this year. The second farm is expected to begin production in 2021.
