After several construction delays, Marfrio has received approval to start production at its second factory in Peru, Marfrio’s chief executive said.
The Spanish fishing and processing company in VIGO, northern Spain, has encountered some difficulties with the deadline for the commissioning of the new plant due to construction delays and difficulties in obtaining permits and necessary machinery. “But the time has come,” he said at the 2022 Conxemar fair in Vigo, Spain. “On October 6, the factory was officially up and running.”
According to him, the construction work is finally over. “Since then, we’ve been ready to start, with 70 team members waiting there. This is great news for Marfrio and I’m glad it happened during Conxemar.”
Production at the plant will be carried out in three phases, with the first phase starting with a daily output of 50 tons per day and then increasing to 100 and 150 tons. “We believe the plant will reach its full capacity by early 2024,” he explained. “Then, the project will be completed and the company will benefit from being closer to where the raw materials originate.”
The €11 million ($10.85 million) plant has three IQF tunnel freezers in three separate areas with a cooling capacity of 7,000 tonnes. The plant will initially focus on cephalopods, mainly Peruvian squid, where further processing of mahi mahi, scallops and anchovies is expected in the future. It will also help supply Marfrio’s plants in Vigo, Portugal and Vilanova de Cerveira, as well as other South American markets such as the US, Asia and Brazil, where Marfrio expects to grow in the coming years.
“This new opening will help us meet growing demand for our products and boost our sales in North, Central and South America, where we expect significant growth,” he explained. “In about six to eight months, we’ll be ready to launch a new product line, I’m 100% sure.
Marfrio already has a 40-tonne-per-day processing plant in the northern Peruvian city of Piura, with a 5,000-cubic-meter cold storage facility capable of handling 900 tons of product. The Spanish company specializes in Peruvian squid, which is the basis for some of the products it has developed in northern Spain and Portugal; South African hake, monkfish, caught and frozen on boats in the southeastern Atlantic; Patagonian squid, mainly Catched by the company’s vessel Igueldo; and tuna, with Spanish tuna fishing and processing company Atunlo, in a project at its Central Lomera Portuguesa factory in Vilanova de Cerveira, specializing in high-end pre-cooked tuna.
According to Montejo, the company ended 2021 with total revenue of more than 88 million euros, higher than initially expected.
Post time: Oct-09-2022