In January this year Colombian tilapia producer PezCo Aquafarming started exporting its fresh fish directly into the United States in a bid to take its share of the ever increasing tilapia market in the country – now it is ready to grow its presence.
The family run company, led by brothers Luis Ignacio and Juan-Carlos Libreros, began exporting their "premium fresh fish" to Miami 10 months ago, to fill what they consider is a gap in the market for tilapia in retailers, foodservice and, to a lesser extent, wholesalers.
“Colombian tilapia has been sold in the United States through other channels for years, just now we want to sell it through us, as a direct Colombian product,” Libreros told IntraFish.
To do this, PezCo, which has set up its US sales office in Florida, has partnered up with the largest Colombian tilapia farmer, Piscicola Botero, and currently imports around 70 metric tons of tilapia per month to the United States market.
Pisicola Botero and its integrated partner farms in Huila, produces around 600 tons of live fish per month and is hoping to ramp this up to 750 metric tons per month next year.
Of this, 75 percent is exported to the US, but only 15 percent is done through PezCo at the moment. The rest goes through other customers like Tropical Aquaculture from Ecuador, something Libreros is looking to change.
“But we are only just getting started,” Luis Libreros told IntraFish.
“We have plenty of fish, we have enough to ensure quantity and quality and we can always grow production,” said Libreros. “Now we just need the orders to come.”
Getting in with the big boys
PezCo is already supplying to the likes of Red Lobster, Jetro Cash and Carry, Bristol Farms, Pappas Seafood, and Bar Harbor (which supplies Disney), Libreros said.
But the company wants more contracts and is already in talks with a number of retail and foodservice channels to start increasing exports.
“We are gearing up and getting ready to launch properly in time for Lent season,” said Libreros.
“The best season of the year is about to come – Lent. We are prepared for it, PezCo is ready to place its available premium farm-raised fresh fish in the market, and we have enough for everybody.”
It has, however, just started exporting whole red tilapia into the US market as well, along with trout.
The company’s current products include premium fresh black tilapia fillets, premium fresh whole red tilapia, trout fillets and whole fish. Tilapia fillets range in sizes from 3/5 ounces, 5/7 ounces, 7/9 ounces, 9/11 ounces and 9 plus.
The whole red tilapia comes from Libreros’ own farm in Valle del Cauca and also from two partner farms in Huila.
Libreros’ produces 40 metric tons of red tilapia at his land-based farm and has integrated two more farms with the capacity of a further 40 metric tons.
Before, this was sold on the domestic market, but Libreros is now testing the water for export to the United States too.
Additionally, Libreros is also planning a new HACCP-certified processing plant in the Valle del Cauca region, which will be the fifth tilapia processing plant in Colombia.
On the plate in 32 hours
“We don't own any storage facilities so all our product is flown fresh from Colombia,” Libreros said.
Each of PezCo's own farms and those they source additional fish from are either already certified or in the process of certification from either the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) or the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), he said.
The commercial office in the US is also in the process of getting ASC certification.
Colombia has the fourth-largest volume of fresh water worldwide, making it a perfect country to grow tilapia. Primarily, the country uses two types of production systems, reservoirs and inland lakes for growing tilapia.
“Producers are starting to take their own fish to market,” said Libreros. “Retailers, foodservice, consumers are looking for more direct products, from source. So by establishing a commercial office in the US we have integrated whole operation from production to commercial.
In addition to its efforts to push tilapia into the United States, PezCo just this week will also begin importing Colombian trout. The company will get supply from the only BAP-certified trout producer in the world, according to Libreros.
Of the 60 metric tons that the farm produces, PezCo will initially start exporting only 10 percent of this to see how the market works, “but we can easily grow this in time,” he said.
