– In this instance, prior to the main seafood fair being held in Spain, the need to rethink the value chain of seafood products in a sustainable way was discussed
Vigo, Spain, October 4, 2023. On the eve of Blumar’s participation in the International Fair for Frozen Seafood Products, Conxemar, which is being held in the Spanish city of Vigo, the Sustainability Sub-manager of the fishing and salmon farming company, Felipe Hormazábal, presented at the congress organized jointly by Conxemar and the FAO.
The panel “Blue Transformation as a Business Strategy” was attended by FAO authorities and local authorities. Five roundtables were formed and discussion took place around six areas, whose focus was the need to rethink the value chain of seafood products in a sustainable way. Thus, the conversation centered on the transformation of the entire value chain of seafood products to achieve a food system that is sustainable both socially and economically and environmentally.
Felipe Hormazábal noted, in that context, that the new context “has pushed us to focus our efforts on sustainability. In Chile, we have a very satisfactory experience. In approximately 10 years, working with high environmental standards, with scientific criteria and technology, and considering the needs of our communities, we have managed to move, for example, from the overexploitation of jack mackerel to a healthy fishery”.
He added that “there is greater concern from investors and from the collaborators themselves, which drives changes at the governance level and which allows us to generate comprehensive policies and sustainability strategies with real impact on the environmental, social and financial aspects. We are full of opportunities and I believe that the fishing and aquaculture industries are seeing them, taking advantage of this Blue Transformation”. He pointed out that “we continue to advance on the path to sustainability, which is a journey, a process of continuous improvement”.
Blumar’s Sustainability Sub-manager also addressed the approach that Blue Transformation is a process that involves the entire value chain and explained that today “we are generating work with all the people who participate in some way in the production chain, valuing the role of small and medium-sized enterprises that make the sector viable and highlighting values such as decentralization and economic contribution to the territory, which are fundamental for the development of economies”.
Finally, Hormazábal valued that “certifications have been very important, because they allow us to measure with indicators. They deepen the relationship with communities, with the environment, the surroundings and, in general, with the entire value chain. Today, there is much progress in these aspects and this allows us to offer a responsible product to consumers”.
The Conxemar Fair is one of the most important meeting points in the food industry, as it brings together importers, exporters, manufacturers, distributors, and so on. This year, Blumar’s delegation was composed of the commercial teams from fishing and salmon, led by their managers, as well as the team from the Pontevedra office.
