Barramundi may soon be appearing more often on European dinner plates, as a new partnership bringing the popular fish to European markets gets underway.
Following an agreement reached at Seafood Expo Global 2023 in Barcelona, Danish seafood company Kangamiut Seafood has announced a strategic partnership with Sri Lankan aquaculture firm Oceanpick. The two companies will join forces to bring Oceanpick's ocean-reared barramundi to the European market using Kangamiut Seafood's established distribution networks.
Oceanpick, South Asia's largest oceanic fin-fish farm, already supplies its barramundi to markets in Australia, the United States, the Middle East, and the Maldives. The company's production sites are located in waters off Trincomalee, the world's second-largest natural harbor on Sri Lanka's north-eastern seaboard.
In a statement, Oceanpick said its farms and hatcheries are fully integrated, and certified as "Best Aquaculture Practice 4-star sustainability" operations. In 2018, the company established its own hatchery, giving it full genetic control to produce robust stock suited to the conditions of Oceanpick's ocean grow-out systems.
The result, Kangamiut Seafood told WeAreAquaculture, is "a world class quality fish that will delight European consumers with its consistent mellow flavours and smooth buttery taste."
Kangamiut Seafood has a long and successful track record in the seafood business spanning almost half a century. One of Denmark's largest seafood exporters, it supplies quality frozen seafood around the world.
The collaboration between Kangamiut and Oceanpick will, according to the partners, "strengthen both Kangamiut's and Oceanpick's position in the market." The Danish and Sri Lankan companies say they look forward to "an exciting future and to growing the uptake of barramundi in Europe".
Founded in 1975, Kangamiut Seafood A/S, is the original cornerstone of the Kangamiut Group. The Kangamiut Group is one of the largest seafood exporters in Denmark, offering a wide range of quality frozen fish and seafood including halibut, cod, haddock, pikeperch, saithe, mackerel, herring, scampi and coldwater shrimp.
Oceanpick is Sri Lanka's first ever offshore oceanic farm for finfish, rearing its fish in pristine waters off the north-east shores of Sri Lanka. The company focuses on "responsible farming" that is highly sustainable, producing high quality seafood, in addition to offering food security in traceability throughout the supply chain.