Nominations sought for IFFO awards
IFFO, the international marine ingredients organisation, is inviting nominations for its second ever innovation and leadership awards.
Due to be presented at the organisation’s annual conference gala dinner, in Bangkok on 23rd September, the awards were initiated last year to recognise innovators and leaders among IFFO’s 226 member companies.
Andrew Mallinson, IFFO’s Director General, explains the thinking behind the awards.
“We established the awards to celebrate the success of our members,” he tells Fish Farming Expert, “as we feel that many of our companies deserve recognition for their achievements and for setting a good example.”
Andrew is keen to stress the open nature of the awards.
“They’re open to anyone doing something innovative and inspirational. One of the projects shortlisted last year, for example, was from one of our Icelandic members who was running a processing factory run entirely on geothermal energy,” he adds.
“Achievements like this make good stories for the industry and the awards will hopefully encourage others to follow their lead,” he observes.
While the awards celebrate serious achievements, Andrew also emphasises their informal nature.
“There’s no set number of awards. Nominations are given to the Board of Directors who will then draw up a shortlist before decided the winners of the day of the event. It’s a bit of fun really. We didn’t want to create too much paperwork in the application process, which is open right up to the day before the awards. Although we received some quite hefty documents last year, we don’t want to bombard the board with complex dossiers,” he reflects.
Last year Omega Protein edged past Pesquera Exalmar, Guangdong Haid Group, Loblaw and Tecnologica de Alimentos SA (TASA) to win the leadership category. Its achievements included creating artificial reefs from retired fishing vessels, representing IFFO members at the UN Committee on Food Security, publishing a paper on the importance of marine ingredients, and producing a Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
Meanwhile Zhonghai Ocean beat fellow finalists Aker BioMarine, FIF and KD Pharma in the Innovation category for developing new pharmaceutical and food grade products derived from marine raw materials.
For more details visit: http://www.iffo.net/node/888
