Larry Cope is president & CEO of Clear Springs Food in Buhl, Idaho, one of the world’s largest producers of freshwater rainbow trout, processing more than 20 million pounds a year.
SeafoodSource: What would you consider your biggest business challenge thus far at Clear Springs? How did you manage it and what did you learn from that experience?
Cope: Clear Springs owns substantial water rights in Idaho that deliver flows of pristine spring water in excess of 500,000 gallons per minute at a consistent temperature of 15°C. This water quality is ideal for rainbow trout production and is the company’s lifeblood. Clear Springs has had licenses to this water that go back to the 1960s, but water rights were challenged by the State of Idaho in 1987. It took us 10 years, three trips to the Idaho Supreme Court, USD 4 to 5 million (EUR 3.56 to 4.46 million) and an immense amount of my personal time to protect our water rights. But ultimately we were given first right to the water, which means that our water rights today are as strong as they are for anyone who owns property.
SeafoodSource: You’re opening a new broodstock facility in 2017. What will it enable you to do that you're currently not able to do?
Cope: Clear Springs has operated a broodstock facility since 1985 in eastern Idaho and our egg needs over the years have been met from our Soda Springs farm with supplements from independent commercial suppliers. We’ve never had the internal capacity for all the eggs we need, though, so the new egg station is being designed and constructed to meet the company’s current and future growth needs. We want to be able to control everything in the farm operations that can control us, so what we’re doing now with the new broodstock facility gives us the assurance we have all the seed stock we need for today and any future growth.
SeafoodSource: You're trying to get more fresh and value-added trout products into the fresh cabinets of American retailers. What kinds of products, specifically?
Cope: We believe the fresh retail segment has been underdeveloped for rainbow trout, so over the past 18 months we’ve focused on developing this market with fresh, refrigerated, boneless rainbow trout filets (ClearSprings ClearCuts®). Our customers are divided 50/50 between retail and foodservice, but our special emphasis on the fresh retail side has been very successful for us.
SeafoodSource: Given the opportunity to address a room filled with seafood industry leaders such as yourself, what is the one nugget of wisdom you would offer them as your closing remark?
Cope: This industry is very intensive. Number one, you have to have the correct resource to work with regardless of how hard you work at it. Also, success comes over time and this business takes a full commitment on people for the long term. We’re approaching our 50th anniversary, which makes us one of the oldest aquaculture companies existing – when I first came in farmed salmon did not exist. So we’ve watched all this evolve over the years. Fortunately for us, we’ve had a really good resource to work with. Frankly, it’s not rocket science. It’s about working hard at it and doing the right thing.
