Responsible production is trend in ASC and GAA meetings in Boston

Christian Pérez In the first of these activities, the audience was informed about experiences with the ASC standard from the local salmon producing company AquaChile and the US supermarkets chain Loblaw . Besides, the public learned of the major advances achieved by this aquaculture certification, through the presentation of the executive director and business manager of the ASC, Chris Ninnes and Esther Luiten, respectively. On behalf of AquaChile, his top executive Alfonso Marquez de la Plata acknowledged that his company can improve its environmental practices. Besides, he expects all their farming sites to be certified under these standards by the year 2020, an objective shared with other member companies of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI). When asked by the higher costs that the implementation of ASC standards might imply, especially at a time marked by competitiveness problems in Chile, the AquaChile CEO said that to achieve a better environmental performance not necessarily means higher costs. Moreover, regarding the lower competitiveness affecting the Chilean industry, he stressed that this sector has previously surprised society many times with different examples of recovery and overcoming numerous challenges in the past.

Meanwhile, the senior director of Sustainability at Loblaw, Melanie Agopian, said that the potential higher prices that certified fish could reach under this standard are oriented  to a premium segment of consumers that is willing to pay a premium for responsible production. Likewise, during the meeting organized by the GAA, the manager of Quality Assurance and Product Development at BJ 's Wholesale Club, Scott Williams, said it's necessary to have a story to tell about these certified products as in the case of trade-fair coffee.  "Much of the public is willing to pay a few extra pennies to buy a product that they can stand behind," he explained.

Among other speakers, it also participated in this mini GOAL (Global Outlook for Aquaculture Leadership ) seminar, the GAA president George Chamberlain, the chief consultant of the GSI, Avrim Lazar, and the Camanchaca CEO, Ricardo García.