First Anniversary For Kuterra Land Raised Atlantic Salmon
April 23, 2015 | 2 min to read
PORT McNEILL, BC – KUTERRA Land Raised™ Atlantic salmon is marking Earth Day and its first anniversary in the market with the harvest of its 180,000th kilo of fish grown on land.
A year ago KUTERRA presented its first fish for sale to its exclusive western Canadian retailer, Safeway. Initially KUTERRA was sold mainly in Safeway's BC and Alberta stores. A year later, production has increased, Safeway sales have expanded eastward to Manitoba, and KUTERRA's marketing partner Albion Fisheries Ltd. sells KUTERRA salmon to select stores and fine-dining restaurants across Canada and in the US.
It was an eventful first year for one of the world leaders in next-generation Atlantic salmon farming, which uses technology that separates the farm from the wild environment. "With any emerging technology, there is a learning curve” says KUTERRA CEO Garry Ullstrom. "We're almost through commissioning the technology, and our key performance indicators are improving with every harvest. We continue to learn, and we're refining our understanding of the optimal conditions for growing our fish.”
KUTERRA already has dispelled many myths about land-based Atlantic salmon aquaculture. It has shown it is possible to produce a high-quality, sustainably farmed premium salmon using very little energy, water or land, without antibiotics or pesticides.
Along with increasing production and sales, KUTERRA has achieved the top "Best Choice" sustainability ranking by Ocean Wise, SeaChoice and Seafood Watch – a first for farmed Atlantic salmon.
"The premium price is exceeding our expectations," says Ullstrom. "And demand is exceeding our capacity to produce fish. This is very rewarding and puts the focus on optimizing fish performance and planning for expansion."
The next goal is to keep refining the system and use that knowledge to reduce capital costs for a second production facility. KUTERRA will report on what it's learning at an Aquaculture Innovation Workshop in October 2015. This is part of KUTERRA's overarching goal to show that it makes both business sense and environmental sense to farm Atlantic salmon on land.
"As we celebrate Earth Day, I'm excited to congratulate KUTERRA on its first anniversary in the market," says Ned Bell, Executive Chef at Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver and founder of Chefs for Oceans. "I love cooking with KUTERRA salmon. Its consistency, flavour and quality are second to none. Responsible aquaculture, with closed containment, land-based aquaculture is the future of feeding the planet with sustainable seafood."
Source: KUTERRA