Purchase of EWOS does not mean losses of jobs
The imminent deal -which is expected to be closed before year-end, represents the arrival of the giant Cargill to the salmon feed industry and according to Sarena Lin, is an agreement primarily intended to create value. "We are new to the industry, so for us is not about identifying those costs synergies or cost reductions. It is about how we create value of all the talent we have the fortune to bring in, to be part of Cargill," said the executive.
Likewise -and reaffirming her company intention to keep most job positions in EWOS, the president of Cargill Feed and Nutrition explained that there is very little overlap between the presence of EWOS and her company. "We have fish and shrimp in Mexico, and now we have a joint venture in Ecuador with Naturisa, we have production in Peru, as in other countries like Nicaragua and Honduras. So we absolutely have facilities there, but many of them are shrimp focused and we believe the salmon is a much more advanced industry, from the production and nutritional needs perspective, we absolutely need to retain the expertise and talent from EWOS," she added.
Finally, when referring to the motivations that Cargill had to enter this sector, Sarena Lin said the decision stems from the fact that her company is oriented to continue finding ways to provide food for the global population. "If we look to the aqua industry, and salmon specifically, it is one of those industries where we believe in a future growth, and we believe that, in order for us to feed people with better nutrition, salmon is one of those industries that we have to be in, so we can continue to not only develop the salmon industry itself, but also leverage what we can learn from the salmon industry to other aqua species and other markets," explained the executive.
Moreover, she said that another reason behind this operation is that Cargill has a lot of knowledge to contribute in this business, for example, regarding Omega-3. "Cargill -as a research-based company, has extensive knowledge about a lot of these raw materials, having done enough research on this type of ingredients. Thus, being in the industry, we will have a better idea about what are some of the research needs in order to continue to focus on helping identify these requirements, especially in terms of ingredients," complemented Sarena Lin, adding that "we believe that there is a lot that we can bring to the table, while we learn about the salmon industry and be able to leverage that across the world."
