Produits de la mer - n°181 - Avril 2018 - 48

News ❘ ZOOM ON... FLANDERS

From the container to the end product
While a sizeable part of
imported seafoods solely
transit through Belgium,
another part supplies
a few processing
companies which are
sometimes the subsidiaries
of international groups.

s a gateway to European markets, Belgium, and in particular
Flanders, also welcomes the subsidiaries of Icelandic or Norwegian
groups who want to give more value to
the raw material, such as Marine Harvest.
The worldwide giant of salmon production moved to Bruges in 2006 after the
purchase of the Pieters company. With a
turnover of 185 million euros and a production of 16 700 tons of finished products today, the company now ranks first
among Belgian processors. It specializes
in salmon of course, but also in white fish,
cod and pangasius mainly, offered in trays
under modified atmosphere. This production accounts for 60% of its activity.
But with units such as La Couronne, a
specialist of top-end smoked products,
located in Ostend, Marine Harvest moves
up into higher value products. "We wish
to help people appreciate fish, without
preparation, through innovation," says
Philip Verduyn, Benelux sales manager.
"To achieve this, we have a state-of-theart plant, with Top Seal type sealing, portioning equipment, fixed weight or variable weight trays. We have invested in Vision

technology to ensure control of the trays
and in a fully automated secondary packaging system: pick and place." The manager adds that production is managed via
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and
communication with the customers via EDI
(Electronic Data Interchange) but above all,
he points out that "the end of the line has
been highly automated with a rapid management of batches, crates and pallets."
The objective is to boost the Belgian market by developing e-commerce.
Will the rival Gadus, number two of
Belgian processing companies, harbour the
same ambitions? That could be: "Direct access
to consumer markets is a major element of
our strategy," Sigurður Gísli Björnsson, managing director of Sæmark Seafood, a company of the Icelandic consortium Steinasalir,
and the new owner of Gadus, said at the
time of the takeover. The Belgian processing company, sold by the Icelandic group this
summer, will remain a bridgehead for adding value, selling and promoting Icelandic
products in Belgium and Europe. At the
end of 2016, Gadus generated a turnover
of 83 million euros by processing and selling
7,000 tons of fresh fish, especially salmon
and cod, to supermarkets and wholesalers.
In Ostend, the name Shore gains more
recognition every day. The Morubel plant,
specializing in frozen tropical prawns, will
soon take the colours and the name of
this group which unites it with Telson,
positioned on the common shrimp in the
Netherlands, with Rainbow, an organic
shrimp farmer in Costa Rica, and with Ristic,
a service desk in Germany. "We are building a well-identified company," indicates
Chris Meskens, communication manager.

[Zoom sur l'import-export]
En 2016, le petit royaume a importé 338 000 tonnes de produits de la mer,
saumon et crevette en tête, pour une valeur de plus de 2 milliards d'euros.
L'Inde fournit la Belgique à hauteur de 5 % des volumes importés. Un
poids qui révèle l'importance de la crevette dans le pays. Tant pour le
négoce que pour la transformation. La France, les Pays-Bas, l'Allemagne
et l'Espagne sont les principaux clients des opérateurs belges qui
exportent 176 000 tonnes de produits de la mer pour 1,1 milliard d'euros.
Principalement du saumon et de la crevette.

❘ 48 ❘

PRODUITS DE LA MER N°181 AVRIL 2018

The shrimp is one of the star products of Belgian processing companies.

The seafood
products
industry
in Belgium:

companies, mostly
trading and
import-export
companies

1,100
employees

Source: Eurostat 2015.

"And the new sales manager, Dirk Belmans
accompanies the move." On the Ostend
site, containers coming from Zeebrugge
or Antwerp converge. Shrimp cargoes will
be thawed, some will be paprika coloured,
others will be cooked or blanched before
being frozen by IQF. Adding value is also on
the agenda. "Notably with the addition of
marinades or sauces. Packaging is done in a
flat bag or Doypack, but cardboard is used
more and more. A type of packaging which
is gaining ground, especially in Germany. A
market for which we have invested in a
new machine and in the Naturland certification," Chris Meskens continues.
A wind of dynamism seems to be blowing in the processors' world, even if in 2017,
Setraco could not maintain its business in
Belgium. The company, which had repatriated the equipment of its French partner
Gastronomie des Fjords to work and assemble its frozen seafood products and offer
ready meals, has failed to move from trading to processing. ■

Table des matières de la publication Produits de la mer - n°181 - Avril 2018