Hook, Line, and Sinker: This Company Wants Its Fish to Sustain the Future

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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

According to Blue Star Foods Corp. (BSFC) BSFC, sustainability is the name of the game these days, and it believes it has that more than covered.

Founded in 1995, the international marine protein company has grown to be one of the leading marketers of imported blue swimming crab meat to North America. Blue Star Foods says it focuses on high-quality products that have traceability, food safety and sustainability in mind.

Over the last 4 quarters as of June 30th, 2021, the Company had $11.3M in revenue, and as the U.S. economy normalizes to a post-Covid 19 environment, the company believes it will return to sales levels of $23.8M that it had in 2019.  As one of the best-known sustainable marine protein operators in the space, they were able to sign a vendor agreement to supply two of its most popular trademarked brands “Blue Star” and “Pacifika”, to a leading national foodservice warehouse supplier, that can be worth an additional $31M in additional sales.

It believes that its emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is what sets it apart from most companies. The company released its first GRI Standard Sustainability Report in January 2021, which shows the strides the company has made in the last 2 years against important ESG key performance indicators. 

As the only report focused on the blue crab meat category of seafood, it showed how BSFC looks at water quality, waste management, empowering local fishing communities, and workers’ wellbeing. Of this type of seafood, 90% is sourced from Southeast Asia, processed at local facilities, and shipped to the U.S. and Europe. This sustainable sourcing consists of BSFC paying local fishermen to use their GPS technology systems and trace product sources, resulting in a more dependable quality product.

It says its packaging is environmentally friendly as well. The company has global patents on eco-fresh crab meat pouches — the only company to do so — that are cost-efficient, decrease waste, have less CO2 emissions, and have a longer shelf life. The current patented pouches realize a 60% material green gas release savings against the standard packaging.

BSFC states that it has relationships with powerhouses like Walmart Inc. WMT The Walt Disney Co. DIS, Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, Sysco Corp. SYY, and US Foods USFD because of the quality of products and auditable ESG checkpoints.

The Company is also a leader in Food-Tech through its Recirculatory Aquaculture Systems (RAS) division called Taste of BC Aquafarms Inc. That division competes directly with similar RAS companies, including AquaBounty Technologies AQB, and Atlantic Sapphire ASA ASA AASZF.

Protein consumption is expected to double by 2050 as marine-based proteins could become the most efficient producer of animal proteins. For this reason, aquaculture through RAS might need to fill the gap and BSFC believes that RAS division, Taste of BC Aquafarms Inc. has created a modular system that can produce predictable and repeatable results, fueling this new marine-based market on a large scale.

As the world hits a projected population of 9.8 billion people by 2050, the global food supply may have to change to fit its growing needs. Companies like BSFC say they already have a leg up in sustainability, providing only the best quality products to its customers since day one.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.