This document is the second report on the conceptual integrated aqua-agriculture project that has the potential to revolutionize a major segment of food products. The two-part project began as a way to turnaround the U.S. trend of importing more than 90% of the seafood consumed here. The initial Part 1 report described in detail how we envisioned the actual operational pieces and, when integrated, created highly competitive products and a clear transformative roadmap to dramatically reduce imported product volume. Using the integrated systems approach, a number of products would be created, namely tilapia filets (fresh and frozen), fish meal, fish oil, liquid fish hydrolysate fertilizer, fish scales (chitosan), fish skin (collagen), greenhouse vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce), open field vegetables (tomatoes, watermelon, cabbage, kale) and Bermuda grasses (horse quality hay).
Any salesperson can “give away” products if profit is not the objective. In this report, we seek to provide readers with deep insight into the previous 3-5 years, current, and forecast market climate (2023-2033) for all products coming out of the Integrated System farm. Expert marketing information has been gathered from numerous sources (see Acknowledgements) and provide detailed market intelligence useful for developing short- and long-term market plans. Of special note are the detailed Appendices that provide specific companies that are currently in the marketplace for the products mentioned above. These company contact lists were gathered from direct contacts, experts in marketing in these sectors, and consulting firms that specialize in specific market analysis. Furthermore, for the next phase of this integrated aqua-agri approach, that is, finding investors to construct the beta version of the physical farm and implement production and marketing plans to sell its products, the Appendix contacts can be a valuable starting point.
There is no reason for the various modern aquaculture industry business fragments to be physically dispersed. To the contrary, locating and folding a number of fragments into an integrated business model on a single, contiguous property allows achievement of a high level of business and financial synergy. This approach has a profound impact on the overall return on investment. The synergy created by this integration and through using updated production, processing, smart by-product value recovery with re-use and aggressive marketing of the suite of products clearly places them directly in the center point of what is important to U.S. consumers. We have envisioned an investment that is unique and provides a solid means for offering highly competitive products and price points while embracing environmental sustainability through nutrient re-use, cutting use of fossil fuels and conserving water resources.
By full vertical and horizontal integration of several production and processing elements, our Phase 1 analysis revealed costs of items to be offered for sale would be highly competitive with any current suppliers of similar products. Utilizing current market pricing ranges secured from real sources, we constructed the financial analyses found in our earlier report. Following up on this initial data, we confirmed that information with more direct market contacts for each product in this Phase 2 study.
New product penetration into established markets is always a daunting challenge. This project expects to do so within 10 or more markets. In Phase 1 of this project, we developed a business scenario for what we considered an entry-level (20,000 tons of feed annually from the onsite feed mill) and have shown it to be an attractive investment. The investment for the facilities, systems, and products to be marketed is expected to total $208.3 million and would allow production of 28-30 million pounds of live Tilapia annually, which after processing, creates about 14 million pounds of dressed and fillet products marketed at