Icelandic company Valka has signed a contract with Murman Seafood Company to design and build a new processing plant in Kola city, south of the Russian port of Murmansk. This new plant is the first of its kind and is expected to be the most technologically advanced groundfish processing plant in the region.
It features Valka’s signature state-of-the-art equipment and methodologies, including a fully automated pin-bone and portion-cutting line. The new plant is tentatively scheduled to begin operation in August of 2019.
Valka is recognised for its high-tech approach to whitefish and salmon processing, in this project Valka will oversee the entire project.
‘It has been a pleasure working with Murman Seafood on planning their new plant. Valka has been growing quickly, and we’re now in a place where we can take on the task of complete factory design and project management,’ said Valka general manager Helgi Hjalmarsson.
‘The benefits of having a single company managing all plant equipment are to accelerate the process and ensure the best possible processing flow. With this approach and the selected equipment, this plant will be the most advanced one in Russia.’
Murman Seafood currently operates six trawlers and is one of only eight seafood companies granted higher fishing quotas in exchange for constructing domestic plants in Russia. The new Kola plant will give Murman the ability to completely maximise a daily capacity of up to 50 tonnes of raw material using innovative equipment and processes.
According to Denis V. Khiznyakov, manager of Murman’s Land-Based Production, the company looks forward to expanding beyond its current offerings of traditional fillets, for the output of high-value products and reduced waste.
‘By building this factory, we are responding to the changing environment and improving our competitive position in an international market,’ he said.
‘We will continue to offer traditional fillet products, but as well, we’ll be able to produce all kinds of portions that require flexibility and high-tech production equipment. We are happy with the cooperation with Valka so far. They are very solution-oriented, and their fillet production line is the most advanced on the market. That will give us distinctive competence.’
Construction on the Kola plant has already begun.
