Focus on feed improvements
Fredrik Witte, acting CEO of Cargill Aqua Nutrition in Norway, says that despite being taken over by Cargill, Ewos has maintained its focus on improving feed quality.
The US-born 44-year-old joined Ewos in 2014 as CFO and was made acting CEO of its Norwegian operations in June. He says he is looking forward to the challenges that await him, as he reflects on a busy first six months in the role.
“2015 will surely be remembered as the year that we were acquired by Cargill – an event that came as a great surprise to all in Ewos. Our former owner Altor & Bain Capital said they were looking at a 5-7 year investment, but then sold after only 2, which surprised us,” Witte explains to kyst.no.
But even if the acquisition came somewhat sooner than expected, Witte is glad that Cargill was the buyer.
“We're in the same industry, so to speak, and they have a strategy that fits Ewos, as we both want to grow in aquaculture,” he says.
Defining events
“As far as our nutritional and operational production was concerned, 2015 was again a year of strong competition. The arrival of Marine Harvest in the feed business in 2014 has only intensified the competition further,” he said.
“But it's something we can live with and also inspires us to improve and develop further,” adds the director. “We have a strong focus on developing ourselves and delivering high quality feeds – especially when it comes to technical quality, where I feel we have taken many steps in the right direction.”
Witte notes that the changes and improvements the company has made over the past year have included everything from raw material management, to production engineering and logistics measures.
