PA S S I O N FOR SALMON
PA S S
FO
SALM
SalMar has progressed to become producer. Speaking to Mats Wærøe L Maria Gaasø, Business Developer, w journey and how sustainability, local remain foundational to
Writer: Lucy Pilgrim | Proje
2 | EME Outlook Issue 73
SION
SALMAR FOOD & BEVERAGE
OR
MON
the world’s second-largest salmon Langseth, Head of Sustainability, and we learn more about the company’s l value creation, and salmon welfare o its continued growth
ect Manager: Presley Smith
EME Outlook Issue 73 | 3
SALMAR FOOD & BEVERAGE
T
he Norwegian aquaculture sector holds a strong position in both the national economy and global food production. Indeed, protein production at sea is seeing high international demand and strongly endorsed by leading health and sustainability organisations due to its nutritional value, low climate footprint, limited freshwater consumption, low land use requirements, and significant scalability. “How often do you find a product that is very popular whilst also being widely recognised for its health and sustainability benefits? How often do you find a food product that is tasty, healthy, versatile, sustainable to produce, and acknowledged as an important contributor to feeding future generations? We have a remarkable product on our hands!” exclaims Mats Wærøe Langseth, Head of Sustainability at SalMar – the second-largest salmon producer in the world. The company is proud to have established itself as a frontrunner in this space, harvesting just over 300,000 tonnes (t) of Atlantic salmon in 2025, and aims to produce 350,000 t in 2026. Since its inception in 1991, SalMar has always been driven by entrepreneurship, continuously challenging industry norms to innovate and develop the sector whilst remaining grounded in fish welfare.
SCHOOLMASTER OF SALMON SalMar is also continuously focused on quality, emphasised by its fully integrated value chain – from roe to harvest – which enables precision and world-class products across all stages of production. “Salmon roe is carefully selected and nurtured until hatching. Juveniles are then closely monitored in controlled environments to ensure their needs are met during the early 4 | EME Outlook Issue 73
“The sustainable development we have achieved over time is the result of the hard work and dedication of more than 3,500 employees. Understanding how longterm value is created, and how sustainability contributes to that, is central to our strategic priorities” – M AT S WÆ R Ø E L A N G S E T H , H E A D O F S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y, S A L M A R
growth stages and our salmon are raised in healthy, sea-based environments until harvest,” Maria Gaasø, Business Developer, outlines. Alongside quality, “Sustainability in Everything We Do” is one of SalMar’s core cultural tenets. Case in point, at the World Economic Forum in January 2026, the company was recognised by Corporate Knights as the world’s most sustainable food producer. A year earlier, it was also acknowledged by TIME and Statista as a leading company for sustainable growth. Yet, for SalMar, its environmental priorities go far beyond gaining industry recognition. “For us, sustainability is about taking a holistic view of how longterm value can be created whilst
supporting local communities, respecting nature, and building on our vision of ‘Passion for Salmon’,” Langseth urges. Compared to other food production sectors, salmon farming is a highly resource-efficient way of producing healthy food at scale. Reason being, salmon requires only about 1.2 kilograms (kg) of feed per kg of biomass growth, contributing to its low carbon footprint. From an already low baseline, SalMar has achieved significant reductions in its climate emissions over the past five years, including a decrease of 20+ percent in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and more than 40 percent in emissions per unit of production. This puts the company on track to achieve its emissions reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. SalMar is simultaneously reporting its highest salmon survival rate in more than 15 years, an achievement it is deeply proud of. “The sustainable development we have achieved over time is the result of the hard work and dedication of more than 3,500 employees. Understanding how long-term value is created, and how sustainability contributes to that, is central to our strategic priorities,” Langseth highlights.
LOCAL VALUE CREATION Local value creation has been part of SalMar’s identity from the outset. Founded in Frøya, a coastal community in Central Norway, the company’s first objective was to create eight full-time jobs locally. Since then, contributing to thriving coastal communities has remained part of SalMar’s DNA. Over the last three decades, the company has expanded beyond Frøya to other parts of Norway, as well as Iceland and the UK. Despite this growth, its founding principles remain the same.
SALMAR FOOD & BEVERAGE
“Successful companies depend on strong communities, and strong communities benefit from successful companies. We are interdependent and must work together to foster open dialogue and a shared understanding of how both sides can contribute to long-term engagement and value creation,” notes Gaasø. SalMar’s focus on the latter also extends to its local processing operations; instead of only exporting salmon as a whole fish to markets around the world, it delivers ready-toeat fillets, portions, and loins directly to customers, therefore reducing the need for additional handling and processing further down the value chain. This ultimately creates greater employment opportunities in its processing facilities, enhances quality assurance, and generates a lower carbon footprint for its products. “SalMar is also strongly committed to increasing public knowledge and understanding of salmon farming. We operate six salmon exhibition centres that offer free tours of our sea sites and educational experiences,” Langseth adds.
SALMAR’S CULTURAL VALUES - What we do today, we do better than yesterday. - The job is not done until the person you are doing it for is satisfied. - Focus on the solution. - The job we do today is vital to the success of us all. - We care. - Sustainability in everything we do.
6 | EME Outlook Issue 73
Social Media: TikTok: FroyaSalmon Instagram: FroyaSalmon
www.froyasalmon.com
Erik Lidahl, International Sales Manager
Gunvor Collier, International Sales Director
E: Erik.lidahl@lofoten.no M: +47 92 63 10 00
E: Gunvor.collier@lofoten.no M: +47 98 23 69 88
Success in the kitchen. Every time. FRØYA® Salmon is for those who know that exceptional food begins with exceptional ingredients. It is salmon for people who never compromise expecting a clean, fresh taste, a firm texture, and complete confidence in how their food is produced. Every fish is individually inspected and graded. Only flawless, Superior-grade salmon become FRØYA® Salmon. We carefully select the loin, the finest part of the fillet, and assess every piece for colour, texture, and overall
quality. Anything that falls short of our standards is removed from the Frøya® selection. Our home on the island of Frøya is no coincidence. Strong tides provide a constant flow of fresh, oxygen-rich seawater, creating natural conditions that cannot be replicated. We have monitored these waters for years, and continue to do so every day. This uncompromising approach is what makes FRØYA®, FRØYA®.
SALMAR FOOD & BEVERAGE
SALMAR FOOD & BEVERAGE
On top of this, the company operates the SalMar Fund, which contributes to community development across the core focus areas of fellowship, diversity, sports, culture, innovation, value creation, and sustainability.
FORGING FISH FARMING INNOVATION The industry has significantly evolved since SalMar’s inception, particularly as aquaculture transitions from an experience-based approach to datadriven – which the company is keenly adopting. “Today, we can gather highly sophisticated data from our farms, providing a broader understanding of salmon’s biological needs and the environment in which it lives. Better information leads to better decisionmaking,” Gaasø informs us. The Norwegian salmon industry’s leading global position is attracting growing international attention, with many companies worldwide interested in contributing to its development. For instance, SalMar recently partnered with Tidal, a spinout of X, Google’s Moonshot Factory, to accelerate the deployment of automated feeding and enable realtime, industrial-scale farm intelligence. The partnership’s objective is to further improve fish welfare and environmental performance through artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems. It also reflects the company’s commitment to sustainable aquaculture and represents one of several development initiatives across its value chain. SalMar is also actively involved in developing the Salmon Living Lab, a global research and innovation initiative that brings together industry, research institutions, academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and authorities. The aim is to share knowledge, pool resources,
“Our vision, ‘Passion for Salmon’, puts fish welfare and human motivation at the heart of our operations and serves as a key driver of operational efficiency, precision, and performance” – MARIA GAASØ, BUSINESS DEVELOPER, SALMAR
projects that further enhance its ability to operate on salmon’s terms. “Salmon farming is complex, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The optimal technology and production strategy depend on the local environment at each site and the biology of the fish,” he affirms. AI and automation have already begun to play a vital part in SalMar’s operations, and their application is likely to expand in the near future. Looking ahead, SalMar’s ambition is to continue developing aquaculture on the terms of the salmon, environment, and communities in which it operates. For the company, progress is not defined by growth alone, but by its ability to combine strong biological performance, responsible innovation, and longterm value creation across the coastal regions it calls home. “What we do today, we do better than yesterday,” concludes Langseth.
and address complex challenges that cannot be solved by individual stakeholders alone. “The Salmon Living Lab has already attracted some of Norway’s leading research institutions as partners and has several industry-relevant projects underway,” excites Langseth.
STRIVING FOR SALMON EXCELLENCE For SalMar, being the world’s best salmon producers means understanding the complexity of its operations and striving for excellence in everything it does. “Our vision, ‘Passion for Salmon’, puts fish welfare and human motivation at the heart of our operations and serves as a key driver of operational efficiency, precision, and performance,” GaasØ smiles. Over the next five years, the company will invest in new technologies and development
Tel: +47 72447900 salmar@salmar.no
www.salmar.no
EME Outlook Issue 73 | 9
Tel: +47 72447900 salmar@salmar.no www.salmar.no
PRODUCED BY EME OUTLOOK MAGAZINE