Colombian aquaculture exports to the United Kingdom tripled in 2019, reaching USD 2.5 million (EUR 2.3 million), a spokesperson from Colombia’s export promotion association ProColombia confirmed to SeafoodSource.
“The export of aquaculture products from Colombia to the United Kingdom began in 2018, where it had a share of 0.27 percent of total non-mining exports. In 2019, the share was 0.8 percent,” the source said. “This is still a small figure, but the growth has surged in recent years.”
The growth was mainly driven by Colombia’s export of tilapia fillets to the U.K., which jumped 126 percent last year alone. The main supplier of Colombian tilapia to the U.K. is the local firm Comepez, the source said, with Proceal, Pisícola New York, Pisícola Botero, and Pisícola El Guajaro also contributing to the total.
ProColombia attributes the local fish industry’s high-quality standards and commitment to production sustainability with driving the advance, including the industry being able to position itself in the U.K.’s main fish markets such as Billingsgate in London and in supermarkets like Costco, which has 29 stores throughout the country.
Previous to 2018, “fresh fish imports from Colombia were uncommon, and a rather odd concept for English diners,” ProColombia said in a press release.
“In fact, the only Colombian fish products in the U.K. market were fish byproducts and processed fillets,” ProColombia said. “Now the Colombian fish is being introduced into British flagship dishes such as fish and chips, with some 10,500 U.K. restaurants specializing in this dish. And there is much room to grow for Colombian tilapia, with two-thirds of fish consumed in the United Kingdom being imported.”
Colombia was the first country to receive group certification in Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) for tilapia, awarded by the Global Aquaculture Alliance. It has 36 tilapia production units with BAP certification – making the country the second-leading seafood producer in Latin America with BAP-certified production centers, trailing Chile. Colombia also boasts of four producers – located in the departments of Huila, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, and Antioquia – with Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification, and the country has six processing plants authorized to export to Europe.
Colombian fish production grew 20 percent in 2019 to an estimated 160,000 metric tons. The total tilapia production in Colombia is 70,000 metric tons, of which 60 percent is red tilapia and the remaining 40 percent Nile tilapia, according to information from FEDEACUA, Colombia’s aquaculture federation. Colombia is one of the main fresh tilapia fillet exporters to the U.S. and the third-largest tilapia producer in Latin America, behind Brazil and Mexico.
ProColombia has identified aquaculture as a key development area for the country, particularly in the raising of tilapia and rainbow trout. The agency touts Colombia’s stable climate and multiple, diverse marine and freshwater ecosystems, which allow for year-round fish production in much of the country.
Photo courtesy of ProColombia
