Norway’s Hitramat AS and Denmark’s Jeka Fish A/S have signed a joint venture agreement to establish a brown crab processing plant in Denmark.
The new company will be named ‘Nordisk Krabbe Kompagni’ (Nordic Crab Company) and will build a new plant for the products next to Jeka Fish’s existing plant in the port of Lemvig.
In high season the company expects up to 40 new employees in the production of the new products, which all include crabs caught in Danish waters. In addition, there is a need for fishermen who catch crabs during the peak season from July to November, where the crab has the highest meat content.
“We are very happy with the new partnership with Hitramat. This opens up for many possibilities. Hitramat is a part of a very strong seafood group and the partnership helps to strengthen our position”, says Halldór Arnarson, CEO of Jeka Fish.
Jeka Fish has a long experience in the processing of whitefish and is now also on the market with fish cakes and fish burgers. Hitramat, a subsidiary of the seafood group Conchilla AS, has many years of experience with crabs and is one of the leading processors of brown crabs in Europe. The company processes about 3,500 tons of crabs in Norway per year.
The new project will be the first commercial production of crabs in Denmark. Crabs are so far a relatively untapped resource in Denmark, and the crab stock in Danish waters is high. The new company is committed to developing an environmentally friendly and sustainable pot fishery along the Danish coast.
Jeka Fish will be responsible for the plant and the daily management. Together the two parties will have a broad distribution network in Scandinavia and Europe.
“Jeka Fish is located close the main fishing ports in Denmark and has effective logistics to Southern Europe. This gives us a unique opportunity to deliver fresh crab products of the highest quality for the most important markets for crabs”, says Mr Arnarson.
The new plant is expected to be ready for the upcoming season in 2016, starting in July.
