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Reinventing Faroe Seafood |
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Archives -
2007 Archive
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Written by B. Tyril
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Monday, 21 May 2007 |
Emerging as a refocused exporter with core competencies in fish processing, and with enhanced sourcing capabilities, Faroe Seafood retains its position among the world’s top suppliers of fillets and portions of groundfish.
Since the 2005 merger between United Seafood and Faroe Seafood, a series of events has turned the combined company into a reenergized seafood enterprise with an enhanced sourcing infrastructure.
With an annual turnover of almost 900 million dkk (120m eur / 82m gbp), a network of eight advanced onshore processing facilities and its own fleet of modern fishing vessels, Faroe Seafood is recasting itself as a refreshed, fully integrated business poised for expansion and growth.
The Faroe Islands’ largest seafood exporter was privatized in 2006 when a group of predominantly Faroese private equity investors and a few individuals including Faroe Seafood chief executive Meinhard Jacobsen, purchased three-fourths of the company’s shares, leaving one-fourth with its former owner, the Faroe Development Fund (Framtaksgrunnur Föroya).
Employing a total 1100 people, and with sales offices in the Faroes as well as abroad, Faroe Seafood annually processes some 36,000 metric tons — and trades even more — of whole, filleted, frozen, wet salted, fresh chilled, and marinated products, packed in various forms.
Founded in 1948, the company today is reckoned among the world’s top players in certain segments, notably portions of frozen saithe and fillets of salted cod.
“You may call this an old business yet it’s new at the same time,” said Mr Jacobsen. “We have a proud tradition with decades of exporting history, yet the company has been changing over time to adapt to its business environment. We employ the latest technology to make the very best of the seafood we produce, now as a fully integrated company, from at-sea handling through to final delivery.”
To secure sustainable harvesting of its marine resources, the Faroese government together with scientists and the fishing industry created a toughly regulated effort management system in 1996. Compared with some other management regimes, the Faroese ‘fishing days system’ has proved very successful, biologically as well as socio-economically, enjoying virtually universal acceptance in industry and society.
The current implementation of a digital system of chain traceability on a national level is another initiative the Faroese have been praised for.
“We’re in the right environment, we have the experience and the expertise, and we’ve got the equipment as well as the manpower,” Mr Jacobsen said. “We own and operate a highly coordinated group of modern processing facilities, with short distance between them and good access to a comprehensive transport infrastructure. In connection with the recent changes in the organization, we have once more adjusted our business strategy and taken some quite dramatic steps to optimize sourcing and enhance quality planning.”
Adding harvesting operations to the business, Faroe Seafood has taken a significant step to bolster its sourcing base. In a bid to secure optimum access to raw materials, the company in early 2006 purchased pair trawlers Jaspis FD 1060 and Ametyst FD 1070, subsequently buying fishing vessel owner-operator Beta with its pair trawlers Bakur FD 1201 and Stelkur FD 1202 and the Kongshavn fish landing station. That deal also included two other pairs of trawlers, the first underway as newbuildings from Spain, while the second pair, originally also planned for construction there, has been canceled for a pair of used, relatively new trawlers. These four trawlers are all scheduled for delivery by late July this year (2007), making the fleet eight strong.
While securing supplies of saithe, cod, haddock, and various other species poses its own challenges, converting those supplies into top quality products remains crucial, yet entailing a complicated complex of parameters and controls.
“We supply portions and fillets in large quantities to a demanding clientele of leading international brands and private labels — reliable deliveries and consistent product quality are minimum requirements. All our facilities are certified by the Food, Veterinary and Environmental Agency and approved in accordance with the international HACCP standard.”
The particular blend of ocean currents originating from the Gulf Stream and the Arctic Sea together with other factors provides for exceptional freshness and favorable conditions for fishes in the pristine waters surrounding the Faroes.
The Faroese are fewer than 50,000 people, situated well away from any large population centers, but still quite proximate to their key markets — an advantage when it comes to environmental impact.
“Low food miles is another environmental benefit that shouldn’t be underestimated,” Mr Jacobsen said. “While we prioritize high quality over low price, we don’t double freeze or process in far flung locations. Our products are sourced, processed and shipped from within the North Atlantic area.”
Link to pdf presentation...
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