May 28, 16.34 pm CET
TUF's King Oscar inks exclusive distribution deal
Norwegian canner King Oscar, which was acquired by Thai Union Food Group (TUF) in fall last year, has nabbed an exclusive distribution deal with Swedish brand Aakerman for the Polish market.
The company started selling the products at the beginning of the year, Dominik Sokolowski, sales and market director Poland at King Oscar, said.
"It's the first time after a long time that we're attending Polfish," he told IntraFish.
"We want to introduce the Aakerman products and also communicate to our clients and guests that under the new owners TUF we're able to offer best-quality tuna products."
Sokolowski hinted that King Oscar is also considering taking over Aakerman in the future, a thought process that already started before it was acquired by TUF in fall.
According to him, Aakerman -- which offers fish roe and canned fish -- would fit right into TUF's portfolio and goes hand-in-hand with the Thai group's strategy to expand its global foothold.
Poland currently accounts for 6 percent of King Oscar's total sales, Sokolowski said.
The market is stable again, after decreasing in previous years, but with TUF's backing, hopes are high a new period of growth is on the table.
"We see an opportunity for tuna," he said. "We used to be a trader but now we're a producer. We can offer better products, better quality and a better price."
Tuna is the biggest sold species in Poland in terms of value with a 40 percent market share, he suggested.
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May 28, 15.55 pm CET
German supplier sets sights on Polish expansion
Bremerhaven-based fresh and frozen supplier Lübbert is seeing a "clear opportunity" to expand its customer base in Poland, Sven Braasch, shareholder and managing director at the company, told IntraFish.
"It's the second time we're attending Polfish, and we hope to develop the market further," he said Thursday.
Growth is envisaged in pelagics, whitefish and convenience, he said. This year, the company is introducing its salmon and cod burgers, for which Braasch sees an opportunity in both retail and foodservice in Poland.
The Polish market currently accounts for around 5 to 10 percent of the company's overall sales.
"We'd like to reach a stable 10 percent, but we wouldn't say no to more."
Germany is still the main market and growth driver for Lübbert, and Braasch said total company turnover will reach €70 to €80 million this year, up from the around €60 million reported previously.
"Our overall goal is to continue on our growth path and to strengthen the segments we're active in," Braasch told IntraFish.
To help the expansion the company recently reinforced its quality management, purchasing and sales departments with six new staff, he said.
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May 28, 01.01 pm CET
Aller Aqua invests in new Chinese feed plant
Danish fish feed producer Aller Aqua is expanding its global foothold with a new plant in China, Marvin Meloch, sales representative at Aller Aqua Poland, told IntraFish.
Construction is still at very early stages, he said. He declined to share any further details at this point in time but said the company is seeing a "huge potential" in the region, especially for tilapia and pangasius feed.
Aller Aqua currently runs a production facility in Poland, Germany and Egypt, he said, with headquarters in Denmark.
In Poland, the company currently produces around 15,000 to 16,000 metric tons of fish feed, mainly for trout, carp and catfish farming, Meloch said.
He predicts further growth in Poland, telling IntraFish it's "a very interesting part of the business. The opportunities are huge - it's a fast-growing [aquaculture] market."
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May 28, 12.33 pm CET
Polish processor invests €400,000 in new plant
Baltic United, a Polish herring and whitefish processor, recently invested €400,000 in a new plant in Reda, Pawel Klosin, import manager at the firm, told IntraFish.
The company, which started out as an importer in 2007, but already built one plant a few years ago, is planning to take the new facility into full production in fall this year, he said.
Some smaller production for fresh Baltic cod fillets is already up and running, Klosin said.
With the move, Baltic is looking to not only expand its fresh and frozen offering to the Polish market, but is also targeting an expansion across the border to other western European countries, he said.
"We're seeing great potential in Poland but also abroad."
He'd like to see an expansion in retail, Klosin said, adding demand for fresh fish in general is growing at Polish supermarkets.
The new plant will have a processing capacity of around 1,000 metric tons for pelagic fish, and the equivalent for whitefish such as cod and saithe.
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May 28, 11.20 am CET
Currency pains
Frozen fish and seafood supplier All-Fish is feeling the heat from the volatile currency situation -- just like many others in the importing and exporting business.
"But otherwise we're fine, and we've remained very active in the market," Herman Kroes, general manager at the firm, told IntraFish.
Germany in particular is showing healthy growth, he said. In terms of raw material sourcing, shrimp remains "tantalizing," he said, on the back of the production shifts in Asia.
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May 28, 11.00 am CET
Polish through and through
"We are a Polish company, that's the most important thing about us," said Karolina Musgrave, marketing manager and daughter of Seko's founder, when IntraFish visited the firm's booth this Thursday morning.
And she's not wrong: last year, the Warsaw-listed herring processor changed its logo to incorporate the Polish flag.
But for customers even Seko has to look abroad: it sells its private label and branded products to clients in South Africa, Canada and the whole of Europe.
So far, exports account for around 15 percent of the annual turnover of PLN 150 million, Kustra said. "Our aim is to expand exports as well as to expand our products into more ready-to-eat options," she told IntraFish.
In total, Seko sold 12,400 finished products last year, all produced at the company's 16,000 square meter-large plant in Chojnice.
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May 27, 17.49 pm CET
Taking herring to a different level
Poland is a well-known market for herring. It comes in buckets, in cans, and various other forms.
But the market has been sluggish, which led 20-year-old Polish producer Herring Torun (what a fitting name!) to reinvent itself.
The Cierpice-based company invested heavily in its modernization in the last few years, Anna Stachniuk, manager at Herring, told IntraFish, which included new equipment, production lines, a coldstore and logistics center.
In a second step, it overhauled its products offering, and now the firm offers a variety of new items, such as ready-to-eat salads, ready-meals, fingerfood and the premium Royal Atlantic Matjes, prepared according to an original Dutch recipe.
"We have a lot of products and a lot of projects," Stachniuk said. "We want to change the Polish market for fish and change the reputation of herring.
The company currently sells about 3,000 metric tons of finished product a year, and is now eying overseas expansion. Germany and the United Kingdom are particularly interesting, Stachniuk said.
"We completely changed our look and completely changed our mission," she told IntraFish. It's all about taking risks.
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May 27, 16.17 pm CET
Lidl supplier: Shifting Polish consumer trends
Consumer preferences in Poland's urban centers are changing. Sushi, as we heard earlier, is just one of these trends.
But importer and processor SoNa is also seeing a move towards more convenience and "fashionable" seafood, Anna Soleniec, purchasing manager at the firm, told IntraFish.
"People want to eat ready-meals, MAP or vacuum-packed. Preparation shouldn't take longer than 15 minutes," she said. In addition, it has become trendy to eat shrimp, lobster, and octopus -- with traditional fish such as herring and mackerel losing ground.
The company, which supplies discounter Lidl's eastern stores in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, is seeing demand for these items popping up across all major cities in Poland, "where people have more money," Soleniec said.
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May 27, 15.52 pm CET
Big contracts
Chinese trader CDS Europe, established in 2012 with offices both in China and Poland, didn't take long to make a name for itself.
After a few years in business, Polish frozen food giant Iglotex is among its largest customers, Paulina Kostecka, sales representative at CDS, told IntraFish.
The main product is IQF Alaska pollock, in addition it supplies sole, Pacific cod and hake, pink and chum salmon, saithe and tilapia.
The secret to the quick success is the previously gained knowledge of both the Chinese and Polish market by its Chinese founder, she said.
In a next step, the company is planning to introduce selected European products to Chinese clients.
An expansion into other European countries might also be on the agenda, Kostecka said.
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May 27, 13.23 pm CET
The sushi dream
Whoever still believes that sushi isn't a way to sell more seafood, think again.
Whenever IntraFish walked past Lucky Fish's booth a big crowd of people was blocking the way -- all of them watching two ladies handrolling sushi, hoping to nab a piece of the Japanese deliciousness.
Finally we managed to talk to Rafal Tusznio, who established the company in 2009 and decided two years ago to venture into sushi.
Today, the company handrolls, MAP-packs and sells 20,000 pieces every month -- and landed contracts with retailers Tesco, Carrefour and Intermarche in Poland.
"It's a good market in Poland," Tusznio told IntraFish. "It's modern."
When asked why Lucky Fish is not supplying to Biedronka, the country's biggest discounter, Tusznio laughed, only saying "they're difficult and we're not cheap."
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May 27, 12.42 pm CET
Northbay Pelagic getting slowly back on its feet
"Tough" is perhaps the only adjective describing Northbay Pelagic's 2015.
After suffering a major fire to its factory on Jan. 17, which destroyed the firm's processing and packaging lines as well as its offices and administration block, the company is slowly getting back on its feet.
The foundation to the new facility went in this week, the steel works are going up in a few weeks and the equipment is expected to be delivered in around six weeks, Chris Anderson, managing director at Northbay, told IntraFish.
He expects to take up operations again in September this year, in time for the main mackerel season. "It's been a very difficult and tough year," he said, when asked how the incident impacted profitability.
All the company can do now is to attend shows, reassure clients and prepare for coming back on line, he said. He declined to comment how much has been invested in building up the new plant, but said the investment was "huge."
Insurance covered "most of it," but shareholders also had to splash out. The reason for the fire remains unclear, he told IntraFish. The company's only vessel has been fishing and landing elsewhere while the rebuilding process is still underway, he said.
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May 27, 11.49 am CET
Talk to you on email
This IntraFish reporter loves trade shows. Why? Because there is no escape or excuse not to talk to us.
But at Polfish everything is different. Not even two hours in, two of the bigger exhibitors (no names are being named) told us to send questions by email. The reason?
Every media communication needs approval by the board or top management. The emails have been sent, and you'll probably read all the news next week...
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May 27, 11.36 am CET
The new kid on the block
"We are the new power in Poland," Lukasz Kibitlewski, co-founder of Nova Seafood, confidently introduced his firm, when talking to IntraFish this Wednesday morning.
Established in 2013 by three experienced Polish seafood executives, the importer hopes to become one of the leading sea-frozen whitefish and pelagic traders in Poland.
In the first full year of operation, the company reported a turnover of €10 million, Kibitlewski said, and plans are to grow bigger and to reach further.
"We would like to become one of the major suppliers in Poland," he said.
Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Hungary are also on the list.
But the expansion will happen with a distinct focus on good-quality wild fish, he said. "We focus on big distributors [as clients], who supply deli shops, premium wholesalers and horeca."
One of the co-founders, Marcin Kiezik, also runs a coldstore and logistics company, as well as supplier Mare Foods, which are both partners to the new venture.
Never a bad thing to have a stable network behind a start-up.
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May 27, 9.00 am CET
All eyes on Gdansk
The Polish city Gdansk, located on the Baltic coast, will be buzzing with seafood execs over the next three days as Polfish, the only fair devoted to the fish and seafood industry in Poland, is descending on the city.
The show will boast more than 80 exhibitors, with organizers saying that overseas exhibitors make up around 40 percent of the participants, including from the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Spain, Vietnam and Denmark.
IntraFish will be on the show floor to bring you all the news. Look forward to seeing you there!
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