Recapping 2023: another successful year for Regal Springs
Exhibitions. Awards. Product launches. New partnerships.
It’s certainly been an action-packed year for Regal Springs!
The last 12 months have been full of growth and opportunity across our distributed sites, with our international teams working tirelessly to hone our operating processes, develop new business relationships and spread our responsibly farmed tilapia products to even more customers worldwide.
So, as a new year approaches, let’s look back at all we’ve achieved in 2023…
Starting the year strong
Emerging into a new year, finally free of COVID-19 restrictions, we kicked off 2023 as we meant to go on: with some awards!
In early January, our colleagues at Regal Springs Indonesia won the Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award in the Synergy category at a ceremony held by the Government of Serdang Bedagai Regency.
There were many reasons why our Indonesian teams deserved this accolade, but they were specifically recognised for their efforts on three fronts:
- Participation in flood management in the Teluk Mengkudu district, providing hundreds of kilograms of tilapia fish to more than 150 families as part of a post-disaster programme.
- Contribution to phase II of the normalisation of Sei Belutu rivers, in collaboration with the Corporate Environmental Social Responsibility Forum (FTJSLP).
- Swara gate participation, delivering one year of support for community social activities in villages around company operating areas.
We were incredibly proud to start the year with this award, which perfectly aligns with Regal Springs’ broader commitment to collaborating with communities and stakeholders on our CSR programmes and continuing to offer consistent support for local governments.
And that was just the start of 2023’s excitement…
Taking tilapia on the road
Following a successful winter, we entered the spring exhibition season with plenty of energy.
From 14 to 16 March, our managing director Petra Weigl attended the 1st Bremerhaven Conference on Blue Economy and Fish Processing in Bremen, Germany.
The conference’s main goal was to provide an overview of the current challenges and trends within the European seafood market, focusing on by-product handling, processing and valorisation.
At the event, Petra discussed the many opportunities within sustainable aquaculture, global market developments and consumer trends. It was a pleasure to meet several figures from the local industry during the conference — including our colleague Kai Wätjen, the sales manager at Fish International.
When April arrived, we headed to the Transgourmet Pur 2023: a dynamic, high-end trade fair held in the Salzburg exhibition centre in Austria. Chef Peter Scharff joined us there to showcase different ways to prepare our versatile tilapia, allowing more people to try this tasty and responsibly raised fish.
Next, we travelled to Barcelona for the world’s largest seafood trade event, Seafood Expo Global. It was a record-breaking affair, with over 34,000 global professionals in attendance to sample new products and hear about the latest innovations from various sectors.
To round off the season, we attended the prestigious Blue Food Innovation Summit in London on 23 and 24 May. This year’s meeting was all about aquaculture and ocean health — making it the perfect setting for us to network, learn and share our ideas on sustainable fish farming.
Celebrating our teams and operations
The summer months were particularly special for Regal Springs this year.
July saw Regal Springs Mexico receive the highly sought-after two-star rating in the International Taste Institute’s Superior Taste Awards.
The team’s dedication to excellence led to over 200 respected chefs and sommeliers giving Regal Springs Mexico’s tilapia fillets an incredible 86.2% score, praising their light, neutral aroma, impressive appearance and versatility. Ours were the only Mexican fish products on the Institute’s list, making this an especially proud achievement.
Also in July, we were thrilled to celebrate 35 years of service across all our offices. With plenty of balloons, mountains of cake and many happy faces, celebrating this significant milestone was a joy for all involved.
But that wasn’t the end of our summer festivities…
August also marked 25 years of Regal Springs in Lake Toba, where we began farming tilapia in 1998. Indonesia was the birthplace of our founder’s vision, and Lake Toba has been the beating heart of our operations since we placed our first pens.
We’re honoured to have such a presence in this magical location and look forward to the next 25 years of working with local communities to produce tilapia products that are good for people and the planet.
Launching new products and partnerships
With the end of 2023 approaching, we squeezed in a few more events during the busy autumn season.
On 25 and 26 September, Anne-Marie Koch and Remco de Waard from Regal Springs EU attended the Rolling Pin Convention in Berlin. Joining industry leaders, top speakers and more than 7,000 chefs, barkeepers, sommeliers and restauranteurs, this was the perfect place to advertise our ‘naturally better tilapia’.
In the same week, we had the honour of attending a golf day event and gala dinner held by our partner Greene King in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. It was a pleasure to support this important cause and get to know some of the company’s leadership team in person.
In October, we had a stand at an exhibition run by our partner Wechsler Feinfisch. There, we showcased our brand-new smoked tilapia product, which won SeafoodStar Best Fish Product of 2024 in the smoked fish category at the Fischwirtschafts-Gipfel summit in November!
At the same Hamburg-based summit, Petra Weigl gave a presentation about zero waste and why it’s a key pillar of Regal Springs’ strategy — touching on the usefulness of fish by-products as a high-quality raw material for various industries.
And finally, we attended the Brakes Foodie Expo in London. After three years of virtual events, Brakes’ first in-person show was packed with delicious food and valuable insights — offering a welcome opportunity to promote our products before the holidays.
What a year! From everyone at Regal Springs EU, we’d like to thank our colleagues and partners around the world for their continued support. By working together, we hope to continue pioneering a more sustainable, equitable seafood industry for all.
Interested in supplying our responsibly farmed tilapia products in 2024? Contact Petra Weigl at eusales@regalsprings.com.
