Innovations through the Supply Chain and Increased Production: The Case of Aquaculture

During the last decades, aquaculture has been the world’s fastest growing food production technology. This is primarily due to the fact that control with the production process has allowed innovations thorough the supply chain, leading to increased demand and thereby increased production. We investigate this process for three leading species; salmon, sea bass and shrimp. The process has been very different for the three species. Sea bass show that despite impressive performance on the cost side, production growth in an industry that is not able to create demand growth will be limited. Shrimp show that as soon as innovation and productivity growth upstream is hindered, production growth will also be limited. Salmon has achieved a better balance between upstream and downstream innovations, and has had a smoother increase in production.