Despite the numerous obstacles presented in 2020, Chilean salmon farming managed to advance several years in developing its plans, and learned several important lessons along the way, Salmon Chile AG Director and CEO of Salmones Camanchaca Ricardo García Holtz said in an opinion piece published in local paper La Tercera.
The COVID-19 pandemic, García Holtz said, has tested the limits of the industry in Chile.
“For those of us who have the responsibility of organizing workers and suppliers in order to serve thousands of customers, these overwhelming and disruptive months have put all the links in our value chain to the test, from production and distribution, to the palate of millions of consumers,” he said. “We learned to be more flexible and anticipate; to always seek the best possible solution, not the easiest, and to communicate decisions at the speed of light based on evaluations at the moment. We adapted processes, shifts, and plans, anticipating the next setback or obstacle; sensing supplier problems and betting on changes in consumer habits. We learned to navigate by testing our capabilities on each wave, demonstrating that worker safety is compatible with operational continuity, for example.”
Salmon farming, unlike other industries, is based on the responsible management of living beings that are unaware of crisis and do not protest, but cannot wait, García Holtz noted.
“It is we, the producers, who must prepare and adjust to the changes that the moment requires,” he said.
A narrow margin led producers to streamline work and take better care of scarce resources, while also reflecting on how to better serve society, considering employees, community, and clients. At the same time, low salmon prices “became the biggest promotion in history and consumers learned how to take advantage of that to incorporate this super-food into their diets,” the Salmon Chile director said.
Now, projections show that after increasing shipments in 2020 this year the industry will export less, and it will do so in a context of consumers hungry for protein and healthy, nutritious, and easy-to-cook foods. As consumption increases as restaurants reopen, and tourism is reactivated, García Holtz said that more than 300 million people have seen the messages of the Chilean Salmon’s campaign “Salmon at home, super simple, super food” on different social media platforms in the U.S.
“In the end, the balance will be positive, we will be better producers, and we will be closer to the final consumers to bring them the riches of the Chilean sea,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Salmones Camanhaca
