This is the view of Erik Bonde Pedersen, Chairman of the Board of TripleNine.
-Of course we are pleased that the total sand eel quota after much discussion was finally increased to 400,000 tons, but considerably more could have been caught sustainably while the fish was plentiful across almost the entire North Sea, he says. -When the quota was finally increased, quite a few vessels had been inactive for a couple of weeks, thus missing out on the good fishing available at the time.
-At the time of writing, around Midsummer Eve, approx. 10,000 tons of the quota remains, and that will no doubt be fished. However, the sand eel are now more widely dispersed, making fishing more patchy and therefore expensive, concludes Erik Bonde Pedersen.
– Nonetheless, the alternative – an unchanged quota – would of course have been even worse, he adds.
Altogether, the Chairman of the Board is pleased with the good fishing and sensible prices paid. -It looks like being quite a good year for industrial fishing, Erik Bonde Pedersen comments.
He explains that the Board has just decided to assess the progress of the entire sand eel season before deciding whether to adjust the prices paid, as in the case of the April landings.
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Norway spout has arrived!
Good Norway spout fishing looks likely to follow the good sand eel season.
At least this is the view of fisherman and skipper Jens Thorbek.
After fishing his full sand eel quota, he landed 515 tons of Norway spout at TripleNine’s factory in Thyborøn with “Pernille Kim” at the end of June.
-That was after just four days’ fishing in poor weather, Jens Thorbek remarks, stressing that the fishing was very clean, with 92.7 per cent Norway spout, 0.6 per cent whiting and 0.5 per cent haddock.
-That was extremely satisfactory, he adds.
Quota too small
This year, the Danish Norway spout quota is 57,000 tons.
-That is far too little, says Jens Thorbek, who is sure that the quota will soon be fished.
-Traditionally, Norway spout is mainly fished by TripleNine vessels, says Jens Thorbek. – We are three TripleNine vessels thus fish approx. 33 per cent of the quota, with “Pernille Kim”, which holds 750 tons, taking the second-largest share.
The rest of the quota is distributed along most of the West Coast, with the majority being fished by TripleNine vessels.
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TripleNine change from cooperative company to limited company
Managing Director Christian Bisgaard:
Until the end of 2012, TripleNine’s suppliers themselves contribute to creating their own share of the company’s equity.
At the end of 2012, the current cooperative company will become a limited company, whose entire equity will be distributed among the current shareholders.
Number of shares
20 per cent of the total number of shares will be distributed to the shareholders each year for the five years from the decision to change the company to the formation of the new limited company at the end of 2012.
The shares will be distributed to the shareholders proportionally with the volume of fish they have supplied to the company each year.
In other words, they can themselves influence their future shareholding. If they supply a large volume of raw material to the factory one year, their future shareholding will increase that year – and vice versa.
Value of the individual share
However, of course it is not just the number of shares allocated which matters to the shareholders. The actual value of the individual shares is also very important.
It is therefore very important that we all – shareholders, company management and employees – focus on increasing the value of the individual share.
Thus it is crucial that we are able to pay competitive prices – both in the short and the long term.
We also aim to increase the equity – and thereby the value of the shares – by developing the company, starting up new business areas and trimming the organisation, so that our resources at all times are adapted to the requirements and opportunities presented to our company – now and in the future.
Specific development and adaptation
On this background, we have entered into collaboration with Pioneer Fishing’s fishmeal factory in South Africa around the production and sale of fishmeal to the export markets.
It has also led to our decision to intensify our efforts to develop our export opportunities in China. It is a rapidly growing market, which is expected to be opened to import of our products later this year.
It is the reason for our choice to strengthen TripleNine Pharma A/S, which among other things produces phospholipids for human use, a product of which we have high expectations.
Finally, it is the end goal for the other organisational changes which we are currently implementing.
All these initiatives are intended to contribute to increasing the company’s equity and therefore the value of the shares which the shareholders will receive at the end of 2012.
In this way, the individual shareholders can genuinely register the full value of their own contributions and of all the other initiatives promoting the interests of the company.
None of this would have been possible if we had remained a cooperative company.
Dedicated committee
Three years have passed since the change of TripleNine into a limited company was agreed at the general meeting, leaving just two years until it actually happens.
The Board has therefore decided to set up a committee dedicated to working on establishing the nature of the future limited company and exactly what needs to be done in that connection.
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TripleNine Fish merger with ESSI
On 1 June this year, ESSI A/S took over TripleNine Fish A/S, which among other things produces frozen bait for anglers from high quality sand eel.
ESSI’s Managing Director, Ejgil Knudsen, explains that the merger of the edible fish company ESSI and TripleNine Fish is very natural, as bait for anglers is produced in conditions comparable to the edible fish industry, because it needs to be of similarly high quality.
At the same time, it of course trims the organisation.
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Energy savings of DKK 4 million per year
This year alone, implemented and planned energy saving projects in Esbjerg and Thyborøn will result in savings of 17 million kWh a year, corresponding to approx. DKK 4 million. To this should be added significant subsidy from the electricity companies.
This information is provided by Quality and Environmental Manager Henrik Sørensen.
-Under new legislation, the energy companies can charge an energy saving contribution, which they have to channel back to the consumers by making relatively large grants towards the implementation of energy saving projects at the consumers, explains Henrik Sørensen.
He adds that this spring TripleNine’s project departments have implemented grant-triggering projects in collaboration with Dong, EnergiNord and Naturgas Midt-Nord.
Total grant of DKK 4.3 million
In Thyborøn, most projects have involved insulation, for instance insulation of steam and condensation pipes as well as insulation of boiler 3. This has triggered a total grant of almost DKK 300,000 and a further DKK 1.5 million is pending the completion of further projects.
In Esbjerg, work has been done on fish oil tanks as well as on the water discharger, ensuring that all steam is condensed before it is discharged.
-Here, we have received a total grant of approx. DKK 800,000, while a further DKK 1.6 million is pending the completion of other projects, says Henrik Sørensen.
-By implementing the above-mentioned projects, we have thus secured a total grant of approx. DKK 4.3 million for the company this year alone, says the Environmental Manager. -In addition, we have applied for a further DKK 300,000 for a new project.
-One reason why we have managed to get such a large share of the funding is that the project departments in Thyborøn and Esbjerg have been able to implement the individual projects both quickly and effectively, so I extend my thanks to them for that, concludes Henrik Sørensen.
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New Finance Manager
On 1 July, Stefan Due took over as TripleNine Finance Manager after Freddy S Christensen, who had been with the company for almost 33 years.
Stefan Due joined TripleNine in 1998 after working in the accounts function at the transport company Roland Munch A/S.
At TripleNine, he has mainly worked on preparing accounts, but recently he has of course spent a lot of time observing Freddy Christensen in order to get a good insight into the tasks he will handle as Finance Manager.
-We have of course worked closely together for many years, so I was already very familiar with my new responsibilities, says Stefan Due.
Many exciting challenges
-I give high priority to our being completely up-to-date and optimised within the IT area, so that we can at any time provide the information requested from us, he says.
Stefan Due recognises that he has many challenges ahead. -However, I look forward to tackling those. It is exciting to work at a dynamic company which is constantly developing, says the new Finance Manager.
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New website
TripleNine will get a new website with a new design and many new functions.
-The current TripleNine website is nine years old. It has worked well, but developments have made an update necessary, says Business Development Manager Yanqi Zhang Larsen.
She explains that the new solution is based on a new CMS system with a fresh design, which respects TripleNine’s original design line. The solution offers functionalities corresponding to the existing ones, but also many new functions, including:
• A more up-to-date look, making navigation of the website easier
• Integrated catalogue for Product Specifications and Product Manual
• Integrated video player
• External newsletter module
Yanqi Zhang Larsen expects the new website to become operational during July.
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TripleNine preparations for the future
To prepare TripleNine Fish Protein a.m.b.a. for tackling the challenges of the future, a number of organisational changes are being implemented.
-Among other things, the adjustments are a result of the concentration of our entire fishmeal and fish oil production in Thyborøn and the transfer of specific functions to the independent company TripleNine Pharma A/S, which cleans fishmeal and oil and produces phospholipids, which we hope will very soon be approved for human use, explains Managing Director Christian Bisgaard.
-In addition, we want to prepare the company for the new market conditions of the future and the other challenges facing us, he adds.
Focus on new markets
The organisational changes being implemented include the following:
From 1 October, Secretariat and Administration will merge.
-This means that Executive Secretary Annette Munch physically moves to the administration department, enabling us to exploit the total employee resources better, says Christian Bisgaard.
In addition, the marketing department will be changed to handle targeted sales from 1 July in order to strengthen the company’s sales effort. Yanqi Zhang Larsen will move in with the other employees in Services, which at the same time will be renamed the Sales Department.
-Here, Yanqi’s tasks will include bringing TripleNine to the growing market for our products in China, which is expected to be opened to import of such products later this year, explains Christian Bisgaard.
Finally, the project department in Esbjerg will close on 1 October.
Ready for the opportunities of the future
To strengthen TripleNine Pharma A/S, Quality and Development Manager Hans Otto Sørensen has already, also physically, moved to TripleNine Pharma, where he will handle that company’s development tasks. The quality work for TripleNine Fish Protein has been taken over by Environmental Manager Henrik Sørensen, who will also head the laboratory in Esbjerg.
-We are convinced that these adjustments of our organisation will prepare us well for tackling the challenges and opportunities of the future, says Christian Bisgaard.
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Savings of 3 million kWh annually by changes to air emission
TripleNine has applied to the environment authorities for permission to change the air emission system in Esbjerg, so that thermal combustion is avoided.
-The project involves treating the extraction from TripleNine Pharma in a washer, so that thermal combustion is only needed for re-sterilisation, explains Environmental Manager Henrik Sørensen.
-If this project is approved, we can save 3 million kWh a year and obtain a grant of approx. DKK 820,000, says Henrik Sørensen.
Joint environmental approval
-In addition, we have reached agreement with the environment authorities about the future environment control in Esbjerg, adds Henrik Sørensen. -We have thus agreed to initiate a reassessment of all existing approvals at both TripleNine Pharma and TripleNine Fish Protein in order to gather these into a joint approval.
-As most of the remaining activities requiring approval are at TripleNine Pharma, the environment authorities will issue the overall re-assessed approval for this company, which will therefore be responsible for ensuring that all conditions for both companies are met, concludes Henrik Sørensen.
