Copacol Changed Brazilian Eating Habits by Including Fish in Their Diet
Editor/Mohamed Shihab
Copacol's pioneering work in fish farming in an integrated manner has allowed many producers to start believing in and producing fish. Through a study on the viability and importance of fish farming in western Paraná, one of the most promising activities of the Consolata Agroindustrial Cooperative (Copacol) was implemented 16 years ago. Today, it is the largest tilapia producing cooperative in Brazil. It produces 17 thousand tons per year, but its ambitions for 2024 are even greater: to reach 21 thousand tons.Since its founding, Copacol has recorded consistent growth, based on pillars of innovation and sustainability.
In an exclusive interview with Jornal O Presente Rural, president Valter Pitol reveals the strategies behind this successful trajectory, the challenges overcome over the years, and the prospects for tilapia farming in Paraná and Brazil.
A pioneer in the integrated fish farming system in Brazil, the activity has become an alternative source of income and diversification of rural properties for 286 Copacol members. “About to complete 16 years, the activity has become the livelihood of many families, in addition to an option for diversification on the property, with agriculture, poultry farming, pig farming and dairy farming,” says Pitol.With the largest volume of tilapia slaughter in South America, the cooperative processes 190 thousand tilapia per day in the industrial units of Nova Aurora and Toledo. In 2023, 55.3 million fish were slaughtered, totaling 16.9 thousand tons of the product.To meet this demand, Copacol has two Fingerling Production Units (UPA), one installed in Nova Aurora and the other in Quarto Centenário, which together produced 56.2 million fingerlings last year. “Copacol’s pioneering work in fish farming in an integrated manner allowed many producers to start believing in and producing fish,” says Pitol.
The beginning
With a strong presence in grains and poultry farming, the president of Copacol mentions that the idea of also working in fish farming came from a postgraduate course offered by the cooperative to employees, in partnership with the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. “One of the groups studied the viability and importance of the activity for several families in the region. The work was presented in 2006 and two years later, in June 2008, the Nova Aurora Fish Industrial Unit was inaugurated,” recalls Pitol, emphasizing that the investment, at the time, was R$ 15 million (USD 179,163) in an area of 2,300 square meters, generating more than 100 jobs. “The slaughter capacity was 10 tons of tilapia per day. Today, this facility slaughters an average of 150,000 tilapia per day, with over 1,200 employees,” he says proudly of the cooperative’s history in the activity.
Technological innovations and sustainability
In Western Paraná, a hub for tilapia production in Brazil, Copacol began operating the Quarto Centenário UPA in 2023 with an innovative system inspired by Israeli technology in the Middle East, a region where fresh water is extremely scarce. The structure focuses on maximizing the reuse of water used in processes, through highly efficient treatment with filters, sedimentation and clarification media, returning it to the production tanks. [Continues...]
Source: Presente Rural | Read the article in full by clicking the link here (available only in Portuguese)
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