HighQuest Partners’ agribusiness expert tapped as panel expert for Seafood Investment Forum

DANVERS, Mass. - May 14, 2013 - PRLog -- BOSTON, 5/14/13 – Philippe de Lapérouse, managing director at HighQuest Partners, will participate in a panel discussion at the Seafood Investment Forum in New York City on May 22 at the Grand Hyatt.

The Seafood Investment Forum (www.Intrafish.no/events/) hosted by IntraFish Media, the world’s leading seafood and news and information provider, will present topics relative to the increasing global demand for seafood.  Discussions will focus on retail data that shows the shift in seafood consumption; how restructuring and consolidation have made fisheries stable, profitable investments; how retailers and food service operators are reaping returns on seafood sales; and how health concerns and consumer trends are driving consumption.

As a panel participant, Lapérouse will address the increasing importance of aquaculture in the portfolio of Ag investments.  “There are several fundamental drivers which explain why aquaculture is the fastest growing category in animal proteins,” said Lapérouse.  

He points to the 6.3% CAGR increase in global seafood consumption over the past three decades and an even faster growth in aquaculture production of 8.2% CAGR over the same period.  HighQuest Partners’ research also highlights positive investment trends in aquaculture including population growth and rising per capita GDP in Asia; growing demand in developing markets for healthy and highly-efficient animal proteins; increasing limitations faced by land-based animal protein production; and the fact that the aquaculture industry is a relatively fragmented and nascent industry which is poised for consolidation.  

Lapérouse also will highlight the opportunities for investing in aquaculture for family offices and institutional investors.  “For those patient capital providers looking to follow a thematic investment mindset that provides inflation protection and a long-term fundamental focus, aquaculture will reap benefits,” said Lapérouse.

Lapérouse has more than 25 years experience in senior leadership positions with global companies in the agro-industrial and value-added food chain sectors as well as in private equity investing. Before joining HighQuest Partners he held executive leadership positions with Ralston Purina International and Bunge North America.

Lapérouse also has been associated with the Fund for Large Enterprises in Russia (FLER), a private equity fund investing in Russian enterprises and joint ventures with Western companies, where he was, among other duties, responsible for the firm’s flagship Moscow office and overseeing investment activity in Russia.

Because of his expertise in the agribusiness sector, Lapérouse is often a featured speaker at industry events, such as the American Palm Oil Council’s annual conference, the World Ag Forum Congress, APK Inform conferences held in Eastern Europe, and both the Global AgInvestingSM conference series and the annual Oilseed & Grain Trade Summit, which he also chairs.

ABOUT HIGHQUEST

HighQuest Partners, headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts, is a globally-recognized consulting, events and media company serving the food, agriculture, agribusiness, feed, and biofuels sectors. www.highquestpartners.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Michelle Pelletier-Marshall
PR/Media Manager, HighQuest Partners
mmarshall@highquestpartners.com
(978) 887-8800, x117