Quality and flexibility characterise Fish Love

A range of fish and seafood products for international markets

The fish processing sector in Albania features a couple of very large companies and several smaller ones. The companies process a variety of fish and shellfish sourcing the raw materials from within Albania and from abroad. The finished products are then sold on the domestic market or exported.

The lower cost of labour has encouraged Italian, Spanish, and Croatian companies to invest in Albania to produce labour intensive products such as salted anchovies Fish Love, based near Shengjin, is an Albanianowned firm that combines fishing activities with a processing operation. Owned by Agron Metvelaj the company has its processing facility in the premises of another enterprise that used to depurate bivalves. The facility has a HACCP programme in place and is licensed to export to the EU.

Raw materials from local catches as well as imports

Today the processing operation is four years old while the fishing activities go back much further. In addition to his own fishing vessel, Mr Metvelaj has contracted a further six vessels to supply him with the raw material that he processes in his factory. Over and above that he imports frozen fish and seafood such as shrimp and European flying squid, as well as salted mackerel. The fresh, frozen, and salted raw material goes into the manufacture of almost 150 products. While the assortment is large the volume of the individual products is generally modest except for shrimp, squid, and anchovies which are the most

Fish Love produces a wide range of seafood products although most of them in modest quantities. Items based on anchovies are among the most popular in the assortment. Raw shrimp are imported from Central America or Asia, processed, and usually exported.

popular items. Most (70) of the production is exported with the bulk going to Italy and smaller quantities destined for Greece, Croatia, Macedonia, and Spain.

Quest for new markets in distant parts of Europe

Mr Metvelaj is interested in expanding both the range of products and the markets he sells them on. He feels there is demand for product variety and is keen to develop and produce new items. I have several ideas for new products, he says, and am particularly interested in suppliers of northern prawn (Pandalus borealis). He sees a lot of potential in countries in central and eastern Europe as well as in northern Europe for his products. A further ambition is to invest in a new processing line that will enable the automation of parts or all of the production process. This would result in higher yields and superior quality. However, he is aware that automation is best suited to production when the volumes are very large and the range of products is limited. For now, Fish Love has a different production model which apart from releasing a wide range of items is also highly flexible and able to adapt at short notice to changes in market and consumer demand.

Fish Love

Ittica Sangiovani Pranë postës së Policisë Shëngjin, Lezhë Albania

Owner: Agron Metvelaj Employees: 30 Markets: Domestic 30%, international 70% (Italy, Greece,

Croatia, Macedonia, Spain) Facilities: Processing factory, fishing vessel