For more than 5 decades, BioMar Group has been dedicated to developing an efficient and sustainable aquaculture industry.
Quality, food safety, and innovation are integral to its operations, as it produces and sells feed for fish and shrimp farmers to use in more than 70 countries around the world. Its key business lines include: feeding trout and salmon in Norway, the UK, and Chile; feeding trout, eel, sea-bass, and sea-bream in Continental Europe; and feeding shrimp and tilapia in South and Central America. It has infiltrated the marketplace so robustly that 1 in 4 farmed fish produced in Europe and Chile is fed with BioMar’s products — “1 million tons of feed and growing every day!”
CEO Carlos Diaz believes aquaculture is a rapidly growing industry. He says he is excited to be leading BioMar forward and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the company as it expands and becomes even more well-known in the world of aquaculture.
Prior to his appointment in 2014, Carlos — who started with BioMar in his home country of Chile in 2000 — moved to Europe in 2009 and held the role of Vice President for Continental Europe, Americas, and Business Development. This gave him a familiarity with the industry and the internal operations of the group, and helped him develop an inter-cultural management focus, which is much-needed in this global industry.
“The first thing I looked at was where we had knowledge — we were especially strong in the salmon and trout business — and how we could apply this knowledge to other parts of the world where aquaculture was in a much more immature state,” he recalls. “I wanted to take the opportunity to help grow BioMar. Secondly, I looked at our fantastic group of people around the world, all of whom had a lot of knowledge and commitment. What I saw was a huge opportunity to drive us forward and see where we could go in terms of expansion.”
“Aquaculture is the most efficient way of producing a healthy and tasty protein, and comparing the feed conversion ratio (the amount of feed to gain 1kg of meat) in salmon to terrestrial animals — poultry, pork, or beef — fish is by far the more efficient. On top of that the yield is better; more edible meat. If we add the benefits of it being rich in healthy Omega 3 fatty acids, we are definitely in the right business, and a growing industry.”