Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global, 26-28 April Barcelona

The show for all in the seafood industry

Coverage of companies from some of the Eurofish member countries concludes in this edition of the Eurofish Magazine.

Mislov doo, Croatia Vertically integrated from catch to final product

Mislov was established in 2001 in Kali on the island of Ugljan in Croatia to catch and trade the small pelagic fish, anchovies and sardines. From this beginning the company expanded into processing the fish at a processing plant it established in 2015, where the fish is frozen, marinated, or salted. With its three fishing vessels, its own fleet of refrigerated trucks, and its own processing factory Mislov is a fully integrated company controlling the entire supply chain and thereby guaranteeing a very highquality end product. Bans on fishing are in force in January, February and in May so the company turns to the raw material it has frozen for use when there is no fresh product. Catches are regulated by quotas and by time, so

With the lifting of restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Mislov will resurrect plans to launch its anchovy products on the domestic market, says Marina Spralja (left), Sales Manager.

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4. - 6. October 2022 Stand G-22

that each vessel may catch 100 tonnes per month over 20 days and must stop when either limit is reached. Catches have been largely stable over the last years, according to Ms Spralja, but the fishing vessels do experience problems with dolphins and tuna which tend to scatter the target fish making them more difficult to catch. The covid situation of the last two years forced the company to postpone its plans and concentrate on its traditional activities of fishing and processing. The plans included a greater emphasis on the domestic market, while maintaining the existing focus on the company’s European customers. We felt it was not the right time to launch on the Croatian market the marinated and salted anchovies that we currently export to other EU countries, says Marina Spralja, the sales manager, as the pandemic had disrupted the market significantly. The products are sold abroad in wholesale packaging and the idea was to sell them in retail packaging to the supermarkets and fishmongers in Croatia. Instead, the company concentrated on ensuring that there were no layoffs either at the processing facility or on the vessels at a time when the market was highly unstable. With the removal of restrictions and the return to in-person meetings, Mislov will revisit the plans it had postponed for the last two years.

Sadiklar, Turkey Seeking buyers of Mediterranean mussels

The company Sadiklar is based in Trabzon, Turkey on the shore of the Black Sea. Our main product, says Sabri Usta, the foreign trade manager, is the frozen boiled meat of rapana, a sea snail that inhabits the Black Sea. The meat is mainly sold to East Asia where, Mr Usta says, his company is one of the biggest suppliers and best-known brands. The raw material is fished by the company’s own vessels, but it also has contracts with independent fishermen and divers who are active all along the Turkish Black Sea coast. As a wild stock the catch volume varies from year to year, but the company has the processing capacity in place to handle any amount that comes in. There are no quotas on the species and it multiplies rapidly so although there are some years when catches are low they are usually followed by years of abundance.

The company has started on a new line of products, Mediterranean mussels, that are farmed on lines in the Black Sea. Although the mussels are farmed there is little to distinguish them from their wild counterparts apart from the way they are grown. The spat attaches itself to the lines and draws its nourishment from the water. Mr Usta is promoting this new product and hopes to identify potential customers to find out how they would want the mussels to be processed. Once this has been established, we will adapt our processing lines accordingly, he says. Europe would be an interesting market for the company and there have already been some enquiries from Spain and Italy, but the Turkish market is also very big, so the company should always be able to sell its production there. However, Mr Usta explains, the company has been exporting for the last three or four decades and this experience together with a committed team will help it also to export

Sabri Usta, Foreign Trade Manager, Sadiklar

this new product. The mussel production is being increased in phases with a final production volume of 10,000 tonnes per year.

Alvar, Iceland Massively reducing the cost of factory disinfection

Aproduct that saves 70% of the chemicals and 99% of the water that are used to clean processing facilities, 100% of the staff costs, and cleans 7,000 sq. m in the space of about 10 minutes sounds too good to be true. But that is what Alvar, an Icelandic company, promises buyers of its cleaning solution. It takes the form of a mist that is released into the room to be cleaned. As an aerosol it reduces bacterial counts dramatically, but also reaches areas that are difficult to reach by hand, such as the undersides of tables or other surfaces, the gaps between machines, and it even kills the bacteria that are present in the air, which are impossible to clean by hand. So, if a typical cleaning team disinfects a building and then leaves, bacteria present in the air can settle on to the surfaces again and increase the risk of contaminating the product. Typically, a cleaning and disinfecting shift in a factory comprises two thirds cleaning and one third disinfection. The mist replaces the disinfection part which is where the saving of water and chemicals is made. It is already widely used in Iceland, says Daniel Fontane, the chief marketing officer, but we are now trying to export it. Once the system is installed it can be activated manually or programmed to run at any given time. The mist is released through a system of nozzles connected to a network of pipes and the company will calculate depending on the machinery present, the kind of product, and the type of bacteria the density of the mist. The solution is thus custom designed for each factory so

A disinfecting mist that attacks bacteria in the most remote corners of a processing plant.

that the payback time of the investment is less than one year. The system is compatible with most of the chemicals currently being used by companies to disinfect their plants. So, installing the system does not mean a change in the chemical used, it just changes the way of delivery. The system is used mainly for food products and in rooms that are not constructed with very high ceilings because that would call for a lot of mist and the savings would be proportionately smaller. The system has also been installed in fishing trawlers which today are almost like processing plants. In fact, new vessels on which the catch is processed are all equipped with the system, says Mr Fontane.

Turkish Salmon Freshwater trout grows rapidly in Black Sea

Turkish production of rainbow trout far exceeds production of the two marine species, seabass and seabream, for which the country is justifiably well known. In recent years the rainbow trout produced in freshwater is grown to a certain size and then introduced into cages in the Black Sea for on-growing. Within a period of six months or so, a 350 g trout can grow ten times in size. This fish, christened Turkish salmon, has become a very popular export. Over the last five years exports have increased from virtually nothing to almost 60,000 tonnes that go mainly to Russia and Japan. Several Turkish producers are farming trout in the eastern Black Sea creating the largest industry-specific cluster in Turkey with USD1.5bn in investment, over 5,000 jobs, and an annual export value of USD135m. The sea-grown trout differs from Atlantic salmon in a couple of ways. It has less fat and the Black Sea being less saline than the Atlantic the fish are better suited to sushi, according to a representative from Turkish Salmon, an industry body. The fish is mainly exported frozen as it can be harvested only two months in the year, in May and June. Thereafter the water becomes too hot for the fish. The trout are placed in the sea in November and December when the temperature in the sea is the same as that of the fresh water and where the fish weigh 600-800 g. The harvested fish is processed into fillets, steaks, some is smoked, and everything is frozen and exported. Since growth depends on the water staying within a fairly narrow range of temperatures, global warming will have an impact on the fish. If it is too cold the fish does not grow and if it is too warm it may not survive. This year may give a preview of what to expect as the temperature in the sea has been fluctuating more than usual.

Cromaris, Croatia

Exports of Turkish Salmon have increased by leaps and bounds over the last five years.

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Diversifying into new species

The biggest producer of seabass and seabream in Croatia, Cromaris has moved into the production of several other Mediterranean fish species including common dentex and amberjack. According to Davide Furlan, general manager of Cromaris Italia and country manager for South West Europe Markets, the key to the successful production of dentex (Dentex dentex) was the development of a special feed formulation, which reduced the cannibalism among the fish that had plagued earlier attempts at breeding the species. Now, production has started and this year we expect 50 tonnes, next year more than double, and our target is a few hundred tonnes, he says. The company has also started to produce amberjack (Seriola dumerili) from the Mediterranean. The broodstock is wild caught and the fish will be grown in cages in the sea. In Italy dentex is considered a luxury, while in Spain pagrus enjoys that distinc-

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tion. Cromaris is also producing organic meagre as a sustainable alternative to the conventionally grown variety. The organic label is particularly popular in Switzerland where the company has good part of the market for organically farmed seabass and seabream. In France “bio” is important too, and Mr Furlan is looking at potential customers in Scandinavia as well for Cromaris’ range of organic seabass and seabream in modified atmosphere packaging. Of Cromaris’ production 60% goes to Italy, Spain is growing very fast, while France and Switzerland are mature markets. The company also produces a substantial volume of large seabass. Almost, 60% of the production is these large fish over 800 g, so we are looking for new channels to sell it, says Mr Furlan. Right now, we sell mainly to wholesalers for the Horeca sector. They buy whole fish in bulk because they need them for catering, for carpaccio, and for other preparations that call for big size fish. We are also trying with retailers, asking them to suggest to the consumer to select a single big fish to feed the family rather than two or three small ones. The unit price is higher but so is the yield in comparison to three small fish. With its wide range of species and sizes, Cromaris can satisfy any demand for Mediterranean fish.

Davide Furlan, General Manager, Cromaris Italia with some of the new species the company has started to produce.

Ukrkharchopromcomplex LLC, Ukraine Rebuilding a bombed factory step by step

Olha Zhmuida (left), assistant to the director, and Rehina Haripova, CEO, of Ukrkharchopromcomplex LLC, a Ukrainian company that processes pikeperch and salmon for export to the EU.

Despite the war in Ukraine one seafood company from the country managed to exhibit at Seafood Expo Global. Ukrkharchopromcomplex has been operating for the last 20 years processing salmon and Ukrainian pike-perch among other species, in a 8,000 sq. m factory. In March this year the factory was subject to a bomb attack that destroyed the entire building and

all its contents including processing equipment and 250 tonnes of fish products, though fortunately with no loss of life, says Rehina Haripova, the CEO. Before the war the company was also manufacturing on contract for companies in the EU. These firms would send raw material to Ukraine to be processed into products they specified, such as fillets, portions, loins, or blocks. In addition, Ukrkharchopromcomplex imported salmon and trout eggs from the US and Denmark respectively for distribution on the domestic market. In 2020 the company invested in a tunnel freezer that took two minutes to freeze products. All the frozen production was processed in this freezer and EU companies that saw the results were very satisfied. As word spread Ukrkharchopromcomplex attracted more and more western companies that were interested in contract processing drawn by the high quality and the relatively low cost of labour. The only drawback was the logistics as Kyiv is further away than Poland or the Baltic states. Ms Haripova says that exporting to the EU from Ukraine does not attract any customs duty or other tariffs on the products because of an agreement between the Ukraine and the EU signed some three years ago. Before starting its processing operations, the company was one of the biggest importers of salmon for distribution on the Ukrainian market. Working with salmon made Oleg Bilodid, the general manager, realise that he could add value to the raw material and then export it back to Europe. The processing factory was certified to several international standards BRC, IFS, MSC, and ISO among others. In Europe the customers are mainly big importers and distributors who supply the retail chains and the food service sector.

Following the setback earlier this year, the company is rebuilding its factory step by step. Civilians are the first priority for receiving government support as many have been rendered homeless, but in the future Ms Haripova expects that some aid will be available to commercial establishments as well.

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