History
OUR 30 YEARS OF HISTORY
Regal Springs was founded in 1988 in Central Java. Today, thirty years later, Regal Springs is:
The world’s largest integrated responsible Premium Tilapia producer
The largest white fish fillet farming producer in the world
The largest employer in each of our lake farming locations
The largest employer in each of our factory processing locations
The world’s first Tilapia producer to certify for both the ASC and BAP Tilapia standards for responsible Tilapia farming
The company was founded 1988 in Wunut, Central Java, Indonesia. Our founder was experimenting using different species to develop fish farming to help alleviate the poverty and lack of jobs in the local communities there. During this pioneering aquaculture period the business started to develop the potential and possibilities of natural Tilapia fish farming.
Did you know where the Regal Springs name originated from?
Across Indonesia, there are often rural areas that are larger than cities, called “regencies.” The use of this term inspired the founder to call the business Regal Springs, with the Springs name derived from the Wunut Hatchery location, which was served by natural water springs. (“Umbul Doyo” means Water Springs in Bahasa.)
In 1991, the business expanded into cage farming and in 1992 the Wunut Hatchery was built; this was the beginning of the 100% provenance from egg to harvested fish Regal Springs now has.
The business became a success and soon Regal Springs also began to export to the United States, where it opened its first sales office in 1994. Further expansion followed within Indonesia with new hatcheries and the introduction of round net pen lake farming.
In 1998, Aquafinca St. Peter Fish in Honduras became part of the Regal Springs family. And in 2008 we started our Regal Springs Mexico farming and processing operations in the Chiapas region, an area with low employment opportunities but blessed with natural lakes that meet our strict fish-farming criteria.
Today, Tilapia has gone from a virtually unknown fish in the USA to the 4th-most-consumed seafood item after shrimp, salmon and tuna.
In 2016, Regal Springs was acquired by the Golden Springs Group, a life sciences business. Golden Springs is committed to support and drive Regal Springs with know-how from the life sciences sectors and drive Regal Springs growth.
In 2017, Regal Springs started to operate under our new CEO, Achim Eichenlaub, with revised operating, innovation and sales strategy building upon our thirty years of responsible aquaculture and processing expertise.
Regal Springs has lake-based farms in Honduras, Indonesia and Mexico and sells its Premium Tilapia in local markets and globally. The business supports over 27,000 jobs in direct and secondary roles.
In 2018, Regal Springs has been busy integrating the business globally and launched the REGAL SPRINGS WE CARE Integrated Sustainability Plan across the business.