“What most impressed the inspector of the ship charged with taking the load, the Spaniard Carlos Alvarez, was the color, the quality and the freshness. He realized immediately that there were marked differences in the fish, from the previous production sent in August. When we told him that we had been working with deepchilla since mid September, he understood the change and the advancement he found fabulous,” adds Garcia
The process
The job of the inspector begins after El Golfo advises its client in Monaco, that the production of jack mackerel destined for Africa is ready. Then, he travels to Talcahuano in order to begin his inspection. In the plant he checks the boxes of 20 kilos each, (those that are thawed) in order to evaluate the quality, caliber, texture and color of the fish, and ensure that they meet the requirements demanded by the client upon signing the contract.
After the samples are checked, evaluated and approved, the transfer to the harbour, for shipment begins. This process lasts around 6 days, after which the inspector returns to his usual place of work in the Canaries Islands, while the ship begins its voyage of 18 days from San Vicente to its point of destination in Africa.
There, there is a very good market, since jack mackerel is one of the fish most consumed and it can be prepared in many different ways. The countries to which product are being sent for the time being is: Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea Equatorial, Togo and Ghana, with good prospects of incorporating new markets in the future.
Upon leaving, Carlos Alvarez reiterated his satisfaction with the excellent quality of the product and the good relationship that he maintains with the people of El Golfo.
Cold from Sunwell Technologies
The system was imported from Canada and has brought certain benefits to the quality of the product, since the required freezing time diminishes, optimizing the efficiency of the plant.
Deepchill is like a gel solution that stays at approximately two degrees below zero, and which increases the surface contact of the ice with the fish, causing it to remain between -1 to 0 degrees C. Another characteristic is that it contains salt, allowing the fish to maintain its color upon thawing. This wasn’t the case using water and ice, as the fish was partly faded. Also, it diminishes the deterioration of the fish, since previously after about 12 hours, the fish quality was so diminished we could not freeze it. Now we can take better advantage of the fish.
Garcia explains that he conducted the test of leaving a bin with ice and water and another with deepchill for 48 hours outdoors. The temperature of the first went up to 14 degrees C and the other only to 2 degrees C. This was used to demonstrate that the gel was really efficient.
Better quality for the jack mackerel
The deepchill system at El Golfo was put into operation in September of 2001. It produces 24 tons of dry ice daily, which is about 70 tons of deepchill with a 30% concentration of ice, Garcia pointed out. The idea of having this installation arose when the manager of operations, Nicos Nicolaides, saw it at ExpoPesca a year earlier and proposed its incorporation into the production process of the jack mackerel that is exported to Africa.
More cold
Installation of the deepchill plant is just part of the continued efforts of El Golfo to innovate the methods of processing and freezing our products and will help us to continue to increase our product quality, our production and our markets.
