Joachim Nielsen is Norwegian, from Bergen, so the fact that aquaculture crossed his path is not surprising, even if it was not his first choice. The extraordinary thing about his story, however, is that his commitment to an industry so closely associated with his hometown has ended up taking him halfway around the world, to Japan. Joachim has traded the view of the fjords for a no less spectacular one, that of Mount Fuji. At its feet is the facility of Proximar Seafood, the land-based Atlantic salmon farming company of which he is CEO and co-founder.
The industrial and cultural challenge ahead of him is undoubtedly huge, but the confidence he shows when he talks about his trust in people, team spirit and communication, makes anyone who listens to him not doubt that he will succeed. Joachim Nielsen is more than motivated, and he has a secret: "this feeling of being wanted".
Joaquim Nielsen has been working full-time at Proximar since 2015, however, although he has an extensive financial background, when he started with the project, he had no previous experience in aquaculture. When asked what brought him here, his first words are "first of all, being Norwegian" and shortly after he adds "I'm also from Bergen". As he explains, being from Norway and Bergen means that almost naturally you have a close relationship with the ocean and seafood. "So, maybe coincidental but still, that's probably one of the reasons why aquaculture has been where I ended up", he summarizes.
One of them, no doubt, but not the only one. In that leap, there is also a business vision. "The aquaculture industry is also where we as Norwegian have a competitive advantage and can bring something to the table in the international context", he says. "We have the competence here and the network", he adds, noting that Bergen is home to the Norwegian aquaculture hub. All that know-how had to be brought to where there was a need: 8548 kilometers, the distance from Bergen to Mount Fuji.
"We saw the opportunity of an interesting business and started exploring if it was possible to grow salmon in Japan", says the CEO and co-founder of Proximar. First came the idea and then, step by step, the establishment of the company. For that, they relied on the network of contacts and know-how they have in Bergen and Norway, but also on the industrial experience of well-known names in the industry such as Bjørn Myrseth (CEO of Marine Farms, and former CEO and co-founder of Stolt Sea Farms) or the Grieg family, and, of course, on the feedback, they have received in Japan.
As he tells us, from the first day of their arrival, they have met people and companies interested in Proximar that have helped them along the way to develop and establish a network in the country. "And I think that is what has been really motivating, to see how positively we have been received in Japan as a foreign company, as a foreign person, and really met with people who genuinely want us to succeed and generally want to help us to proceed", he explains.
The company is establishing a new industry for large-scale RAS, but also for Atlantic salmon, something that did not exist in Japan until now, and they notice the local enthusiasm for this idea. That especially motivates them. "The reason why we're excited about this is because of this feeling of being wanted anyway", he claims.
There is a video on the Proximar website in which, at one point, Joachim says that "there's something special about this project". When asked what that something special is, Joachim sums it up in this sentence: "It's a combination of what we believe is an interesting business model and project, together with the feedback that we receive in Japan".
That feedback, that support network that Proximar is finding in Japan is something Joachim continually refers to during our talk. No wonder. That local collaboration has helped them with such important things for a project like this as getting the perfect location. And they have it, at the foot of Mount Fuji no less. "We've spent quite a lot of time traveling around Japan trying to find a good site, and when, by coincidence as well and through our network and all the people we've been meeting, this came up as an opportunity I thought it was really incredible", he explains.
The location, attractive itself for its beauty and symbolism, is also perfect for much more practical reasons, but fundamental. It has a view of Mount Fuji, yes, but it also has plenty of high-quality water and is 1'5 hours from Tokyo. "It's easily accessible for the fish when harvesting, but also getting people from abroad to come to work and train the local employees so we can build up the competence", Joachim tells us. "A very attractive location", he sums up.
The land-based facility located there is still under construction and will be completed in 2023, but the hatchery and nursery are already operational. The production process has begun and has done so under very high standards of sustainability. Before starting, Proximar had already achieved the highest rating from the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR), the sustainability rating in the country. An acknowledgment confirming that what they are doing is on the right track, but not the first one for the company.
Previously, they had been the first farming company in the world to receive Cicero's Dark Green classification. This is a milestone for the company, which has been recognized for its commitment to sustainability and for planning now, at set-up, the foundations that will create long-term sustainable profits and a footprint. "It was very motivating to get this darkest shading from Cicero. There's an acknowledgment of what we are thinking and planning and doing, so that was important", Nielsen tells WeAreAquaculture.
Awards give them extra motivation, but at the same time put pressure to keep on delivering. As Joachim Nielsen claims, sustainability is "one of the backbones in Proximar". The company has a systematic approach to it, which means it is integrated into the way they plan and intend to conduct operations, and to achieve it they have gone for the Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS). They know that starting from scratch is a really good position to make sustainable decisions, and that is critical in an industry that is known for its sustainability advantages, but still has problems that need to be solved.
"We know that from commercial farming, RAS, when being fully shutting out the outside environment and exposure, is obviously the ideal way in a sort of speak to operate and produce", he says. An ideal method but, as he acknowledges, not the only one. It is not about farming at sea or on land, it depends on the location and the market, and also on volumes. "If you were to feed the worldwide population, you can't rule out one or the other. There has to be a combination, I think that is the future", he claims. "And then, we all have to strive to try to make the production as sustainable as possible with the limitations that we have", that's the key, in his view.
"But of course, land-based is still a limited volume and it will. It cannot replace conventional farming, so it will go hand in hand. And as we know that there is a need for more production of proteins going forward, so it needs to be both". For their side, they are producing in Japan and taking transportation into account, which is an important angle from their perspective. "When you come to these remote markets like Japan, in my opinion, land-based makes sense for that matter", he states.
In their case, this commitment to land-based and RAS has AquaMaof as their technology provider. When asked why this partnership, the CEO of Proximar Seafood sums it up: "It's a combination of track record, what they have proved of water treatment capacity and also the low complexity, combined with something even more important now the recent years, the low energy consumption relatively speaking, and also low water consumption, which have been important considerations too when it comes to the ESG ratings we have achieved".
At AquaMaof they have quite a lot of experience in aquaculture themselves, so the facility is designed according to what Nielsen defines as a "friendly operational way". As to him, it is a low-complexity solution, easy to operate for the workers, with a focus on fish production and limited technical solutions. The system is based on natural processes that eliminate many of the failure points – they use sedimentation and gravity and so can eliminate many of the drum filters, for example -, and it is also modular, which diversifies risk and brings flexibility to the system.
Proximar Seafood works between two countries and two cultures, or even three with Israel's AquaMaof. This, despite the challenge of working in two time zones, which means long hours, is something Joachim likes. "I enjoy working with different countries and different cultures", he tells us. "I used to live abroad when I was a kid, and I think that's part of why I like the international context". So, that's something he enjoys but, how does he manage it?
"It's all about communication and establishing close communication with the different parties", he explains. "If it's from Israel, or from Japan, or other places, is trying to learn each other, and establish a good and open dialogue or communication which helps, but it's also necessary to be able to understand each other". He acknowledges that it has been a learning curve, but they have focused on it because communication is key to the company's philosophy. "We want to create a workplace with stimulating and enthusiastic workers, build a good team with a team spirit, and, again, that's about communication and trying to make people be open and transparent, and also have a have good respect for each other", he claims.
Finding people with experience in combining RAS and Atlantic salmon is one of the hurdles to overcome not only for Proximar but for the whole industry. For them, to operate and succeed in the operation is important, but so is building the team and the transfer of knowledge and understanding of both the technology and the fish. So, to develop and build the project, management positions have been recruited from abroad, where that know-how is, to create a local workforce to acquire and internalize those skills and knowledge. "Maybe the most important factor of success when it comes to the operational phase is to have people with experience who can see the challenges and address them before it's too late", Joachim says.
They have already started with production, so continuing to build the team, and getting the people they want is, according to their CEO, the main challenge for Proximar in the near future. He is very pleased about what they have achieved so far, but now it's time to find the production worker. They have already made their first local recruitment in Japan and will continue so going forward. "The challenge will be to find good candidates and also make sure that we can communicate and transfer the know-how and understanding and build the operational team also locally in Japan", he says, "but I think we have a good plan on this".
That is not the only challenge ahead of them; they are also preparing for sales and marketing. "That's also a big task, but we have a good partner in Marubeni", says Joachim Nielsen. The two have just signed an agreement for the Japanese company to be their exclusive distributor in Japan for all Atlantic salmon. "Marubeni is a large corporation that also takes its ESG and sustainability seriously", Proximar's CEO tells us, "and when it comes to sales and distribution, this is something that is early stage right now, but yes, we will look into what can be done in as most sustainability-friendly way possible".
Moreover of Proximar's specific challenges, there will be general industry challenges, especially cost inflation, but he believes that, despite that, salmon is well positioned. So, with confidence in the product and the certainty that Proximar Seafood is doing things right, Joachim Nielsen is only asking for more hours in the day to keep building this project. "My challenge now is to make sure that we get this good team spirit and good company culture to continue", he ends.
Proximar Seafood is a land-based salmon farming company that is building the first large-scale Atlantic salmon farm in Japan. Its first facility, at the foot of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, has already started production in October 2022. With an annual production capacity of 5,300 tons of head-on salmon (HOG), the first harvest is expected to be serving fresh salmon to Japanese consumers medio 2024.