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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1512670
12 BC BU S I N E S S .C A J A N U A R Y 2 0 24 101,990 people of Icelandic origin live in Canada. i S t o c k ; N o u n P r oj e c t According to the 2021 census ON THE RADAR to Vancouver, replacing its former seasonal schedule. Am- bassador Guðjónsson points out that this offers benefits ex- tending far beyond the tourism sector. "It always has business implications, because you have more cargo space. We always see a rapid uptick in trade when you have an air hub." The air freight connection is essential, as B.C. is as far away from Iceland as it is possible for a Canadian province to be. Certainly an ice-free Northwest Passage would help improve Icelandic access to the West Coast. "That may happen," says Marel's Johannesson, "which is very unfortunate." In the meantime, there are many Icelanders currently among us. Unheim points to the Icelandic Canadian Club of B.C., based in the Scandinavian Community Centre in Burnaby. "Okay, the Scandinavian Com- munity Centre name needs to change," he says, "because Iceland and Finland are not technically part of Scandina- via. But it's a great facility." If there's pizza at their meetings, it is likely to feature seafood. Marel (the name comes from Marine Electronics) began in 1983 with three University of Iceland students who received a grant to develop a digital scale that could communicate with a dot matrix printer. From there it has become a dominant player in North American poultry and meat processing. "About 60 percent of our business is in poultry," says Marel sales manager Haukur Johannesson. Last year the company also completed a US$540-million acquisition of Kansas-based pet food proces- ser Wenger Manufacturing. While Marel already has a B.C. presence, other firms at the Wosk Centre event were looking to make their first for- ays into the provincial market. Pétur Jakob Pétursson was there representing HPP Solu- tions, which sells systems that help transform fish byproducts into fish meal used in fertil- izer, feed and pet food, driving profitability and eliminating waste. He cites the experience of Seattle-based client Glacier Fish Company. "Their revenue from byproducts was at 14 percent," Pétursson says. "Now it is between 18 and 22 percent of each trip." Icelandic technology can also help steer the boats them- selves. Hefring Marine, which includes B.C.'s Pacific Pilotage Authority among its clients, markets onboard systems that not only function like black boxes in airplanes, tracking a vessel's route, speed and fuel consumption in real time, but also measure the G-force levels experienced by crew members as a craft strikes the waves. Then, the systems recommend the ideal speed to minimize damage and dis- comfort. "It's like an assistant operator," says Hefring's Karl Birgir Björnsson. "You might be gaining two or three extra knots but using an excessive amount of fuel to get that. We can calculate what your fuel consumption will be based on the environment and find a safe and efficient speed." Björnsson says that an Icelandic insurance company called TM now offers dis- counts to operators using the Hefring system. Icelandair recently in- stituted year-round service GO FIGURE by Michael McCullough SAILING RATE The Vancouver International Boat Show (BC Place, Jan. 31 to Feb. 4) is Canada's second largest, attracting more than 30,000 visitors. As an ahoy to the event, here are a few nautical numbers from B.C. and beyond Gimli, Manitoba, is home to the world's biggest Icelandic community outside of Iceland. The town was established in 1875 as a "reserve for Icelanders," many of whom were fleeing poor living conditions. After Manitoba, B.C. has the largest number of people of Icelandic origin in Canada SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA, CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC Bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and Iceland was $209 million in 2022: Canada exported $90.3 million and imported $118.7 million in goods. Canada had 909 marinas in 2021, including more than 200 in B.C. B.C. has 26,700 kilometres of ocean coastline, plus countless lakes and rivers 12.4 million Canadian adults went boating at least once in 2019