Producer’s switch from air freight slashed carbon emissions

Faroese salmon farmer Hiddenfjord says it has cut 200,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions since it decided to stop exporting salmon by air.

The family-owned company has just celebrated the first anniversary since declaring it was moving exclusively to sea transport.

On October 10 last year, Hiddenfjord stopped using all air freight, making the company the first salmon producer in the world to rely purely on the more sustainable, low-emission transportation of goods.

It has since produced a video to mark this major milestone, detailing how using oceangoing ships to consistently deliver fresh salmon to customers in Europe and North America, its main markets, has led to a remarkable 94% reduction in carbon emissions associated with overseas transportation after just one year.

CEO Atli Gregersen said: “We believe we have a responsibility, not just to deliver the best possible salmon but to do so in the most sustainable way.”

He added that he had been inspired to take definitive action following a lecture on climate change called “Making a Difference” held in the Faroe Islands by musician and political activist Bob Geldof.

“Geldof said, ‘Pondering too long about the pros and cons of an initiative will not make anything happen. Take action! Then things will become much clearer, and you will put all your energy into finding solutions and achieving your goals’,” said Gregersen.

“We have proven that our salmon is still just as good as salmon transported by air,” he added after announcing the results of a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Evaluation Centre.

Hiddenfjord says that in a blind taste test of salmon shipped by air and sea, more than 100 consumers could not tell the difference and rated both equally favourably in terms of taste, texture, and aroma.

Gregersen said: “By creating a unique processing and cooling system and optimising our sea transportation process, where we control the salmon’s temperature at all times, we have kept the quality of our sea-raised salmon high and even made it so that the salmon lasts longer.”

He also said that the company is expanding its smolt facility to increase the size of its smolt aimed at further reducing time at sea.