Dutch Yellowtail: Sustainable and tasty

Farmed fish does not really have a good reputation, but the Yellowtail from Kingfish Zeeland seems to be a game changer. Farmed on land, high-end, and sustainable, and so delicious that international top chefs keep coming back for more. What is CEO Ohad Maiman's strategy? "First, we put everything up for discussion."

"Fish farmed on land can be a game changer just as the greenhouse horticulture was a hundred years ago", says Ohad Maiman, CEO of Kingfish Zeeland. He's on a promotional tour around Italy. Yesterday Venice, today Rome, and Milan tomorrow. Other countries on the agenda are Spain, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Mission: convincing top chefs and high-end retailers in Europe to buy the Dutch Yellowtail as it is being farmed in the basins of Kingfish Zeeland, at the edge of Kats, a fishing village on Noord-Beveland. Maiman: "We can already deliver fresh Dutch Yellowtail anywhere in Europe within 24 hours". 

Just like Tesla

The strategy of Kingfish Zeeland is based on that of Tesla, says Maiman. "Just as Tesla first introduced the Model S, we also started at the high-end side of the market. Dutch Yellowtail is a top product and premium brand which we, for the time being, produce at high costs for a public that is willing to pay a premium. When we have secured our place in this market, we will move quickly to focus on cheaper varieties and the lower ends of the market: the supermarket shelves. And just like Tesla, we have an overarching goal: contributing significantly to a more sustainable life on our planet with new, innovative technology."

Aqua culture on land

In the early 2010s, Maiman hears about aquaculture on land and immediately sees its potential. He is then still vice-president of an investment company, but the company is not interested in fish that is farmed in basins. In 2014, Maiman gets in touch with Kees Kloet, who already experimented with Yellowtail before and who has great experience with farmed fish. They strengthen the management team with Hans den Bieman (former CEO of Marine Harvest) and banker Itay Young, and the company is launched by the end of 2015. The following year is used to find investors and a suitable location. The ambition from day 1: becoming the market leader in aquaculture on land. In 2016, they manage to secure around 23 million euros. By the end of 2016, they buy a former oyster farm, which is quickly refurbished to become the Dutch Yellowtail farm. The first fish is marketed by mid-2017. Maiman: "Our main investor is Rabobank. They see the huge potential of farming fish in a closed, entirely controlled system. Additional investors come from the hi-tech and agro-industry". 

Subsidy

Kingfish Zeeland only uses green power. They work with advanced purification installations that provide clean, purified water from the Oosterschelde. The fish are fed with 100% organic food and the whole process is free from pesticides or antibiotics. This resulted in certifications such as the ones from Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). They also obtained the Maatlat Duurzame Aquacultuur certificate (Yardstick for Sustainable Aquaculture), which made the investment in the fish farm eligible for a number of tax regulations. Via the RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency), Kingfish Zeeland made use of the Environmental Investment Rebate (MIA), the Energy Investment Allowance (EIA) and the Arbitrary depreciation of environmental investments (Vamil). This last, additional support is given because the farm actually prevents the overfishing of tuna and eliminates the necessity to import Yellowtail from its original habitat: Australia and Japan.

Ambassadors

"We are on schedule", says Maiman. "We are looking for a suitable location in the United States where we can start a second farm. And top chefs from around the world are presenting themselves as ambassadors. As the American chef and publicist Barton Seaver says: “The story behind Kingfish – organic, sustainable, top quality – is a story you can make your own as a chef, and one you are eager to tell. This is an exciting story in which we actually become the architects of our food of the future, which will be sustainable and incredibly tasty". Mart Scherp, chef at Restaurant Scherp in Middelburg is very enthusiastic about the taste. "Many of the farmed fish varieties don’t taste good because the fish is not getting the right food. Dutch Yellowtail is only given fish that was caught in a sustainable manner, and this is why its taste is so good. I really like to work with this fish."

Experiments

What is Maiman's advice to entrepreneurs who want to innovate? "Our attitude is that we never do anything because it was always done in a certain way. We put everything up for discussion. For example, everyone said that the Yellowtail is the perfect fish for sushi and sashimi. So we thought: let's invite ten European chefs to experiment with this fish. Which showed that there are so many more ways to prepare it. Smoked, boiled, or grilled, as a fillet or the entire fish – everything is possible. And this offered so many new opportunities! So: get rid of the old mindsets. Question everything first.” 

www.kingfish-zeeland.com