an excerpt from the Auer fund,
HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries
The fund managers went looking for exposure to the food sector and China. Auer thinks he's landed both in HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries (HQS:hq sustainable maritim ind i com new
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A month ago, the Seattle-based firm received a large order to supply frozen tilapia fillets to a major U.S. fast-food operator. Auer believes this could be a supply-contract with either McDonald's Corp. or Burger King.
HQS didn't name the customer in a press release. But, it said the deal would have a "material" impact on its finances and said its frozen tilapia fillets replicate the taste and texture of Alaskan Pollack, a fish used in fast-food sandwiches.
For Auer, other attractions to HQS include the increasing U.S. imports of tilapia, a consumer movement toward eating toxin-free fish, and the declining stocks of ocean fish.
HQS reels in its tilapia from a network of at 1,500 fish ponds off the southern coast of China, on an island known as Hainan, where the company is ramping up its operations.
Shares of HQS closed Thursday at $12, up 44 cents, or 3.8%.
