Innovative development and strict quality criteria ensure the top quality of Alltech Fennoaqua’s fish feed, but the finished product does not move from line to customer on its own. Thomas Ginström, Aleksei Ivanov and Emil Österberg ensure that the right product finds the right customer.

The journey of Alltech Fennoaqua’s products from the Raisio factory to the fish farmers requires careful planning and flexibility when needed. Sales and logistics ensure that customers will get the product at a competitive price and that the delivery will arrive on time.

Sales Director Thomas Ginström’s varied work includes sales and planning, as well as managing the product range and pricing products for different markets. He leads a sales and marketing team of six people, three of whom are based in Finland, one in Sweden, and one in Poland.

“I use quite a lot of English in my work nowadays when talking to my great colleagues! Our collaboration between different countries is excellent. We here at Fennoaqua have been able to expand the range of products offered to customers with Alltech’s options. Or own products have also found a wider market thanks to Alltech.”

Ginström has been a salesman in Raisio for 26 years. He started in the cattle feed business, first in telephone sales and later as a sales representative. In 2012, Erik Norrgård, then head of the fish feed business, was retiring and asked if Ginström would like to move into fish feed sales.

“I sure did, and I’m still on that path,” Ginström laughs.

Interesting work all year round

The change of seasons has a big effect on sales work, and Ginström says that he has no typical workdays.

“Spring is the busiest season for sales, as it’s the time to promote new products and make offers. I spend the spring largely travelling, visiting our customers, and attending events. In the summer, customer visits and other customer service play an important role, as does fish growth monitoring.

Autumn and winter provide time to review the results and prepare for the future.

“As autumn approaches, we will review the achievements of spring and summer by reviewing growth results and customer feedback, both good and critical. Both are important when we strive to improve our performance. During the winter, we review the previous season and make future plans. We also go through sales materials and other product-related information.”

Logistics ensure that the product reaches its destination

After the sale, there is one more important step before customers receive the products they have ordered. Supply Chain Manager Aleksei Ivanov and Seasonal Assistant Emil Österberg ensure that Fennoaqua’s supply chain works efficiently and smoothly.

Seasonal Assistant Emil Österberg and Supply Chain Manager Aleksei Ivanov.

Ivanov joined the Raisio team in 2013 as an export assistant and later became the regional export manager with responsibility for Russia, other CIS countries, and the Baltics. Since 2018, Ivanov has focused exclusively on fish feed exports.

“For us, the war in Ukraine stopped exports to third countries. In an exceptional situation, the order-supply chain became familiar to me, and since 2023 I have been in my current role responsible for the overall management of the supply chain. We are currently rekindling our old contacts in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, where we have not shipped for a couple of years, and I oversee export sales in these regions.”

Ivanov appreciates all cooperation with Alltech, as Finnish fish feed is now being exported to different parts of the world.

“Our collaboration with the Alltech Coppens feed factory has been great right from the start. They are like a previously unknown big brother that is now a part of our life! Thanks to Alltech, we’ve had enquiries and opportunities from countries we would not have gone to on our own. Our environmentally friendly products have also attracted interest from Central Europe.

Ivanov’s varied job involves negotiating prices, inviting shippers to tender, and comparing routes to ensure the customer gets the right amount of feed at the right time.

“From a logistics point of view, Finland is an island, so the cost of transporting feed is a major issue when it is exported outside the country. From a customer perspective, the most important thing is to ensure competitive prices and reliability of transport. Fish eat every day, so the feed must arrive on time.”

Ivanov’s work also includes collecting orders, transportation planning, and coordinating operations with production. However, Ivanov says that there is no such thing as a typical working day in logistics.

“You might have something planned in the morning, but you’ll probably end up doing something completely different. Prioritizing is crucial in our ever-changing work environment. We now ship to more than a dozen countries, so there is always plenty to plan and manage.”

Valuable experience in good company

Emil Österberg has also noticed that every day is full of surprises in the middle of routines. Österberg works as a seasonal assistant at Fennoaqua, managing the order-supply chain and working with Ivanov to ensure that customers receive their products by the agreed date.

“Orders usually arrive from salespeople or directly from customers. Then, the orders are entered into our ERP system. The next step is to start booking shipments for the orders. In addition to routine work, some orders may require immediate action, which keeps me alert. On the other hand, the element of surprise also makes the job challenging and rewarding!”

Österberg originally joined the company in 2020 as a seasonal production assistant in the packaging department. Three summers working in the packing room laid a good foundation for his current job, as it familiarized him with the different stages of product manufacturing and delivery. He has been in his current job for a few months.

“This job is still relatively new to me, as it’s quite different from my previous jobs on the production side. Even in this short time, the order-supply chain has provided a lot of challenges and lessons, which has also made the job very enjoyable.”

The current job fits in well with Österberg’s sales engineering studies at Turku University of Applied Sciences.

“It’s very valuable to learn things in practice and not just study them in theory. And apart from the work itself, the best thing about Fennoaqua is the great people you work with!”