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There are only a few of them
We got to meet Algirdas on the morning of the business day, but for the usual video farm, you really won’t see him here.
Upon entering the company premises, the manager explains that he is the director and one of the founders of the company and adds that he sleeps and wakes up every night with his thoughts on the pale white-footed shrimp.
“It’s not something that you arrived at 8 a.m., you left at 5 p.m. and you forgot that it exists ”, he laughs.
This “local ocean” farm is the brainchild of five Lithuanian investors from Kaunas. Algirdas calls them all, as well as himself, enthusiastic, because men started doing something a few years ago that had never existed before in the country.
He says they started farming shrimp in 2017, but the beginning was not easy. Explain that there have been many failed attempts, a lot of time and money wasted.
It is Kaišiadorys that they claim to have chosen for their activities both because of the strategically good location between Kaunas and Vilnius, and because Rumšiškės is close by, where the Folk House Museum is located, which is associated with the roots of the nation.
It’s true, adds Algirdas, that when they started, men didn’t think much about the profitability of the business and, as they say, the main idea was to do something new, unusual, that not everyone can do.
“We like to travel, we love seafood, but we did not have the opportunity to buy this fresh product in Lithuania.
Everything that arrives is of doubtful quality, frozen, and you have no option for something exceptional, a good product ”, says the manager and assures that he has also contributed to the idea of developing such a business.
Shrimp farm
According to him, in Europe there is only one shrimp farm of this type. As the name suggests, one farm is in Switzerland, several more in Germany and Belgium.
“But they cannot supply not only their country but also the region,” says the manager.
He says that today his company sells only in Lithuania, and the shrimp do not go to the large supermarkets, but are more focused on small specific stores.
“We also talk and cooperate with the best restaurants that aim to offer our customers the highest quality.
<...> not only can we raise pigs, but we have to look at it more broadly ”, says Algirdas, but does not reveal how much investment a farm of this type required.
French fries brought from the USA
Algirdas also takes us for a walk around the farm itself. Here you can see large pools with shrimp farms.
The manager says that the total number of premises available to the company amounts to 1.4 thousand. kv. and you must always maintain an air temperature of at least 20 degrees and the water in swimming pools at 28 degrees.
It is true that the water in the latter is not exactly what we imagine when hearing the word pool. He is dark and, at first glance, dirty, but before asking why, Algirdas is already explaining the reasons.
“Our water may seem dirty to you, but it is not like that, it is that technology. Our water is alive, which means that everything happens as in nature, only everything is transferred to a closed system.
Shrimp farm
That brown color is given by special good bacteria. This means that the removal of nitrites and nitrates, ammonium compounds, takes place naturally. We do not use any chemical product ”, he assures.
The shrimp grown in the pools are not visible due to the color of the water, so the technologist pulls each other out to show us the grid. Explain that we would not be too surprised if they are not the color we are used to at all.
“They change color when they die, say, by boiling or chemically treated. Then they turn pink, ”he says.
And the very principle of the breeding, according to Algirdas, is that they bring in shrimp fry from the United States (USA), and when they adapt, they are released into the first culture basins.
“In these pools, they grow for about 3-4 weeks, then move to a slightly larger system with more water.
At the time of transfer, we check the actual number of their units, we see what the mortality was when those 3-4 weeks grew, we weigh, we count and then in the systems they grow another 3-4 weeks.
Later they move again. This time, to the final large cultivation basins, where they are already growing until the end result. Our goal is for shrimp with shell to weigh between 20 and 25 grams ”, he explains, but adds that its cultivation is extremely difficult because it is an extremely pampered and demanding organism. Due to improper eating, you can drink and feel bad, say, jumping out of pools.
Plans to conquer Europe
Algirdas reveals that the company’s plans include further development. The men plan to build another farm 4-5 times larger next to the facility and thus expand their production capacity.
“Design work will start next year. At the same time, we will create a separate sector for farming so that we are independent of external factors. Then we will fry and grow a food product,” he says.
Construction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022, and the company’s strategic plan is not limited to Lithuania.
“We have a strong partner who has a global perspective on our project.
Our goal is to have a farm that can supply not only our country, but also the whole of Europe ”, says Algirdas.
When asked what the first target export markets could be, the manager boldly said that these are our country’s neighbors – Latvia, Estonia and Poland.
“There is no shrimp farm in any of these countries,” he said.
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