The arrival of Chilean salmon in thousands of fast food restaurants in USA could be a reality. The main producer of this resource in Chile, AquaChile, is interested in creating strategic alliances to gain access to this coveted market.

"A salmon hamburger.....why not?" says AquaChile President, Víctor Hugo Puchi. He remember the international conference AquaVisión 2004, which took place in Stavanger, Norway, last year, where potential salmon consumption  in US market, had been established.

Therefore, AquaChile is open to establishing alliances with others salmon companies and to sharing distribution channels in those markets. In fact, there have already been some conversations about it. US consumers' concern about obesity has forced fast food chains to extend their offerings of healthier products.

Puchi recognizes that, until today, there have not been initiatives from Chilean salmon companies to fill this place in the market.

"We have not taken this opportunity before, because we had not have enough size as an industry and nobody felt able to [fulfill the needs of] a big food chain like McDonald's", said the salmon businessman.

However, the industry today sells more than USD 1,300 million annually, bringing forward winds of change.

Puchi says that, today, some products like salmon steaks are being offered to US consumers, and that the following step would be to move to ready-to-serve meals.