The tone of this celebration was “rockstar-style” from the very first seconds, with an entrance to the venue to the sound of “We will rock you” by Queen and the cheers of the company’s team.
Last Thursday, March 13, BioMar rolled out the red carpet to celebrate the 2024 Farmers of the Year like true rock stars. Two live bands set the tone for the event, with cocktails, Bagual burgers, Chester beers, cigars, Glenfarclas Scotch whisky and Akashi Japanese whisky, and even tattoos, according to a press release.
This awards ceremony, sponsored by Cahuil Adventure, the Cabaña del Lago hotel, La Vikinga delicatessen, the Familie Fritz restaurant in Frutillar, as well as Miguel Torres’ Glenfarclas Scotch whisky and Akashi Japanese whisky, was a celebration full of details in a vibrant atmosphere from start to finish.
Nearly 150 salmon farming industry professionals gathered at the Cabaña del Lago hotel to celebrate the companies and farms that achieved the best results in 2024. The rockstar tone of this celebration was set from the very first seconds, with a red carpet entrance to the venue, to the sound of “We Will Rock You” by Queen, and the cheers of the BioMar team, making each guest feel like a true rock star.
After a welcome cocktail, Derek Kohn, General Manager of BioMar Chile, and Gabriela Heim, the company’s Commercial Manager, offered words of welcome and thanks.
Derek commented, “At BioMar, we have a saying that we use quite frequently, which you can see in our Sustainability Report or in internal presentations. Results are created by people. This is exactly what we’re here to celebrate today! The results you have achieved! Good food isn’t enough to achieve good production results. Production excellence is achieved by human groups, teams, who coordinate, who communicate, and who put group goals before individual ones. We all know how challenging the industry is, how difficult salmon production is, and the environmental and biological challenges that exist. Achieving good results today is no easy task. Therefore, I want to congratulate all the companies honored in BioMar’s 2024 Farmer of the Year Awards. It’s a tremendous achievement!”
He was followed by Michael Adler, Technical Manager of BioMar Chile, who shared an analysis of the production results for 2024. Michael highlighted the importance of innovation and collaboration, along with the adoption of a nutritional and feeding strategy focused on health and well-being, to continue improving fish performance in the face of increasingly challenging environmental conditions.
Following Michael’s presentation, Gabriela Heim began the awards ceremony by announcing the winner of the “Sustainable Innovation” award. This year, the company Salmones Austral won the project “Cultivating the Future of the Seaweed Farms of Chaicas de Salmon,” together with Mujeres de Chaicas and Huiro Regenerativo. Salmones Austral’s beautiful project stands out for its triple impact: environmental, social, and economic, in line with the three main aspects of BioMar’s sustainability strategy: climate action, empowering people, circularity, and restorative.
The winning project stood out for its positive environmental impact, through the regeneration and repopulation of ecosystems with endemic algae, contributing to the goals of climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, and nitrogen and carbon absorption. At the same time, the project has a significant economic and social impact, developing capacities and generating direct income for the women of Chaicas.
The awards ceremony continued with recognition for Marine Farm’s Leutepu farm, which achieved the best biological conversion in the Coho Salmon Performance category. Subsequently, awards were given to all the farms in the Top 10 in the Atlantic Salmon Performance category, closing with Australis’ Humos 6 farm, which achieved the best biological conversion.
Last year, the Danish firm introduced three new awards. In addition to the award for Best Sustainable Innovation, it also included the awards for Best Energy Efficiency and Best Biological Conversion Company. Thus, in addition to achieving the best biological conversion factor of the year, Australis’ Humos 6 farm was also recognized for its optimal energy use in achieving its conversion factor of 0.996.
Finally, the award for Best Biological Conversion Company, which recognizes consistent excellence in results, was won by Australis, which shined at the 2024 Farmer of the Year Awards with six of its centers in the top 10.
Nothing was left to chance when celebrating the evening’s stars. Two rock bands livened up the event, one of which was created especially for the event, featuring musicians from BioMar, Yadran, and Mowi, to highlight the importance of collaboration.
“Furthermore, the event guests enjoyed Bagual’s tremendous burgers, exquisite sandwiches, and seafood, accompanied by Chester beers and Miguel Torres’ Glenfarclas Scotch and Akashi Japanese whiskey brands. On the terrace, they were able to sample cigars while taking in dazzling views of the lake and Puerto Varas, under the starry skies of a clear night. All the ingredients for an unforgettable celebration were present,” they stated.
Source: www.salmonexpert.cl
