Oslo, Norway-based GenoMar Genetics has signed a joint venture with Colombian poultry genetics distribution company Agroavícola Sanmarino, to begin distribution tilapia genetics in the form of fingerlings and juveniles.
The agreement calls for the establishment of a new company named GenoMar Genetics Colombia through which the distribution will occur. The firm has already secured a biosecure, land-based facility in Colombia’s Huila Province. The first products from the new company are expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Martin Cordero, the newly appointed general manager for the joint venture.
GenoMar, which already has export authorizations for its genetic material from Colombia’s Agricultural Institute (ICA), will supply the entire parent stock requirement from its breeding operations in Asia and Brazil.
“This is an important milestone in our expansion strategy,” GenoMar Genetics Group CEO Alejandro Tola Alvarez said. “Colombia is the second- to third-largest tilapia producer in Latin America and has a very export-oriented value chain that professionalizes quickly. Both companies have worked hard and patiently over several years with the vision of bringing genetic innovations and supply security to the Colombian tilapia industry.”
In May 2021, GenoMar launched a subsidiary in Vietnam to provide tilapia fingerlings to local farmers.
GenoMar operates tilapia-breeding centers in Norway, Latin America, the Philippines, and Malaysia. AquaGenetics do Brazil is the distribution company for all three of the company’s brands in Brazil: GenoMar, Aquabel, and AquaAmerica.
Agroavícola Sanmarino is a Colombian poultry genetics distribution company belonging to the Italcol group. It has been in the local market for more than 25 years and is one of the largest poultry breeders in Latin America.
“We have no doubt that tilapia will follow a similar path as poultry, where genetics innovation and distribution, carried out by highly specialized companies, are transforming the industry year by year,” Agroavícola Sanmarino Manging Director Germán Galvis said. “This allows higher efficiencies in production and sharing best-practice methods.”
Photo courtesy of GenoMar
