In 2012 the company missed out on a $300m turnover target due in large part to shrimp raw material availability; instead hitting just above $272m. Shrimp disease was a defining feature across Asian nations in 2012, and 2013 too. However, things improved in the following years.

In August 2015 Gulkin stated he would like to see his company boost its then-$320m annual revenues to over $500m over the next five to seven years, by expanding its seafood importing and distribution businesses.

“In Thailand, we import salmon from Norway and Chile, squid from Peru, dessert products from Europe—and I think that is going to be a way forward for our other offices as well,” he said.

The firm has, in the past, considered Latin America as a potential region which would be interesting for the business. As of March 2016 though it has not got as far as making any plans for an office there, said Gulkin.The business will initially focus on frozen seafood items for the domestic market, but will eventually expand to other food items as well.

“It is still something on our radar, but not imminent. Our sales to Latin America continue to grow, and our imports into Asia from that region – shrimp, squid, salmon – are also growing.”

At the same time, the company is still working on imports to Thailand, which is growing “bit-by-bit”, he said. “It is a tough market, it is very competitive.”

Selling shrimp to processors in China and Vietnam has become major business for Siam’s India office, and shipments from its Indonesia office to China and Vietnam are expanding as well.

The Thailand import business is growing, albeit slowly, he said. The company is taking it step-by-step, and will continue to expand its product range.

“Thailand seems to have made the most progress of all Asian countries in terms of recovery from EMS [early mortality syndrome], as well as overall disease control and management covering EMS,

EHP [enterocytozoon hepatopenaei], white spot and other diseases. Necessity is the mother of invention, and Thailand has made great strides.”

In August 2015 Gulkin said he would like to see his company boost its 2014 $320 million annual revenue to over $500m over the next five to seven years, largely by expanding its seafood importing and distribution businesses.

“Due to considerably lower shrimp (and other seafood) prices, our turnover for 2015 was lower than
2014,” he told Undercurrent in March 2016.

“We finished off 2015 at approximately $280m. However, our volume was in fact up by 5% and our net profits up by 7%, so all in all we did better than 2014.”

It was too early to make a prediction for 2016, given there “are always too many variables in this business”, but he expects turnover to once again surpass $300m for 2016, he said.