Ambitious Canadian Jim Gulkin Has Built a Thriving Shrimp Business as Siam Canadian Group
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Globe and Mail] By David Berman - August 28, 2015 -
A booming seafood business in Thailand owes its origin to a Canadian's peripatetic youth
Jim Gulkin epitomizes the global businessman. He's a Canadian who holidays in Quebec's eastern Townships over Christmas and for six weeks each summer. but his company, which specializes in farmed shrimp, has always been headquartered in the Thai capital of Bangkok.
When Gulkin founded Siam Canadian in 1987, he was a high-school graduate without a business degree or any first-hand knowledge of running a business—or of seafood.
By 2014, Siam Canadian's gross sales had risen to $320 million. Gulkin is not done yet. He sees more expansion ahead, with sales rising beyond $500 million over the next five to seven years, as Siam Canadian gets more involved in importing and distribution. “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."
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