Marel has contracted with HB Grandi to supply a new roundfish processing system for its Vopnafjörður factory in north-eastern Iceland, which is now diversifying from being a purely pelagic operation into also handling groundfish.
The Marel setup for the Vopnafjörður factory will include a raw material grader, a ten-station flow line, a FleXicut water jet cutting system and a FleXisort product grader with packing station. As part of the package, HB Grandi is also buying Innova production management software that is designed to support production and maximise yields while meeting quality standards and food security requirements.
´This contract with Marel is part of our expansion here at Vopnafjörður,‘ said factory manager Magnús Thór Róbertsson.
Marel’s FleXicut system uses X-ray technology to identify and remove bones from fresh cod, haddock, saithe and redfish fillets, using a high-pressure, high-precision water jet to cut away bones and to portion fillets as required.
‘HB Grandi’s decision to invest in this system is a step towards the introduction of new technology into filet production, portioning and packing of whitefish,’ said Marel’s sales manager in Iceland Óskar Óskarsson. ‘This system is designed to achieve the best possible yield and to optimise values. FleXicut and the system as a whole is designed to maximise production efficiency and maintain the quality of the raw material.’
The HB Grandi order follows an agreement to supply a FleXicut system to Danish producer Espersen, one of the leading European cod processors as it seeks to increase automation at its production plants.
Espersen operates production in Lithuania, Poland, Russia and in Asia, and the new FleXicut machine is now being installed at its factory in Lithuania.
