Aller Aqua were Gold sponsors of the largescale event focused on Africa, based on the company’s increased focus on the African continent during recent years.

As a company focused on its customers, and one that is expanding in Africa, it was natural for Aller Aqua to support World Aquaculture the first time it took place in Africa. To gain the widest possible reach and welcome as many customers as possible, the company welcomed the opportunity of being gold sponsors of the event.  

Formulating feeds for Africa

Aller Aqua’s research and development department, located in Germany, has formulated the feeds sold in Africa specifically for the region, considering the species and the nutritional and physical quality for the environment the fish are farmed in. Both Tilapia and Catfish grow fast, and a high-performance feed enables faster and more economically efficient growth, resulting in improved income to the farmer at harvest. 

In line with one of the company’s core values, Knowledge sharing, Aller Aqua sponsored two feed related sessions; tilapia aquafeed and catfish aquafeed. Group R&D Director, Dr Hanno Slawski acted as chair, and held the keynote presentations in both sessions, related to the formulation of feeds for tilapia and catfish for the African continent. Dr Slawski explained the importance of both physical and nutritional quality of the feed, and the impact on these species. He elaborated on the topic of achieving good farming economy on tilapia and catfish farms. Both sessions were well attended by participants with various backgrounds and interest in these two species and feed formulation. The sessions generated many interesting talks at the Aller Aqua booths afterwards.

Aller Aqua contribution to the African value chain

Based on Aller Aqua’s increased focus on the African continent during recent years, the company decided to sponsor the session “Building Aquaculture value chains in Africa”. The keynote presentation, An Experience Paper: Aller Aqua Group in Africa; Company Strategy and Contribution to the African Aquaculture Value Chain, was presented to an engaged audience in the Auditorium by Niels Lundgaard, Commercial Director for Africa and Leon Günter, CEO of Aller Aqua Zambia. Niels explained that African aquaculture is constantly growing, and thus, the need for product optimization also increases through the value chain. Such development presents a series of challenges for the local aquaculture industry on the African continent. Constant availability, economic conversion rate, high and constant quality, education and local presence as well as collaboration are just a few of the main challenges Aller Aqua addresses in the individual markets. These are the fundamentals behind our strategy and business structure in Africa. Leon proceeded with an account of the setup and facts of Aller Aqua Zambia Limited, as well as the factory progress. Leon explained that the recent investment in Aller Aqua Zambia will result in the technologically most advanced fish feed factory in Southern Africa. This will increase Aller Aqua Groups presence and commitment to the aquaculture value chain on the African continent. The session experienced good activity in terms of questions both after the presentations, as well as later on Aller Aqua’s booth.

Busy days at Aller Aqua booths

Aller Aqua set out to achieve both visibility of their activities in Africa as well as meeting as many customers as possible. Talks on the booth focussed on how the company could help maximise output and achieve better farming economy for the customers, based on the company’s vision: Let’s grow together. Aller Aqua were happy with the outcome of participation in World Aquaculture 2017. “We were highly visible at the tradeshow, with a very good team in place, and we experienced some very busy and interesting days at our booths, with numerous visits from many of the close to 700 people who registered for the tradeshow”, states Commercial Director of Africa, Niels Lundgaard, who is looking forward to following up on the large number of contacts established in Cape Town.

The World Aquaculture Society registered close to 2000 participants from 87 different nationalities. Aller Aqua would like to thank the organizers from World Aquaculture Society for the collaboration in the organization of their contribution to World Aquaculture 2017.

Busy days at Aller Aqua booths with many interesting talks

President of CAFAN visiting Aller Aqua booths

Commercial director for Africa in one of many meetings