Friday, May 22, 5.00 p.m ICT
Alliance Select drives salmon business; expands tuna fleet
Philippines-based Alliance Select Foods, the tuna supplier to major brands such as Princes and Bumble Bee, is mainly focused on two business units: smoked salmon and tuna.
While growth has been strong on the salmon side of the business, the tuna side has been hit recently with low raw material prices, Calvin Bernard Lim, sales director of the company, told IntraFish.
The company posted a $17 million net loss in 2014, and saw revenues decrease 4 percent to $81.3 million.
While Alliance Select's salmon business rose 8 percent to $30 million in 2014, driven by higher sales volume, revenues from its tuna division fell by 9 percent to $52 million.
The company recently moved the processing of its Prime Foods smoked salmon products from New Zealand to the Philippines, which has resulted in a number of cost and labor savings, said Lim.
“We are looking forward to growing our presence for salmon across Asia – Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines in particular."
In terms of tuna, the company is expecting to benefit significantly from the recent GSP status awarded to the Philippines, said Lim. “However, even with the GSP we are still dependent on market dynamics and will have to compete with other zero duty countries.”
Lim said the raw material market for tuna is starting to pick up after a few months “in the doldrums,” and buyers are coming back.
Meanwhile, the company is slowly building a tuna fleet for Indonesian waters, and Lim said “we have recently got our licenses to fish and the fleet is coming on line.” This way the company hopes to become fully integrated.
“We have a big allocation for fishing in Indonesia which is a rich fishing ground," Lim said. "We hope to grow our fleet and integrate operations."
The company also hopes to grow tuna sales by expanding in markets where there is consumption.
But according to Lim it is a matter of finding the right buyers, expanding reach and furthering exiting relationships. “The tuna market is always challenging but that’s what makes it fun and interesting," he added.
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Friday, May 22, 2.00 p.m ICT
Camanchaca looks to grow Asian markets
Chilean aquaculture and fisheries producer Camanchaca is looking to grow its presence in Asia, and is at the Thaifex show for the first time looking to push its salmon, mussels and abalone.
The company is already established in Japan and Korea as well as through a joint venture in China, but wants to grow in markets such as Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan, according to Mino Shiraishi, the company’s representative director in Japan.
“At the moment it is very small volumes, but it is a crucial, growing market that we cannot ignore,” said Shiraishi.
So far at the Thaifex show, Camanchaca already inked a deal with the Thai company PTN Group for its mussels, but this is not exclusive and Shiraishi is hoping for more.
And the company also has plans to increase its volumes sold to Thailand, which are currently less than one percent of the total.
Currently Chile supplies around 15,000 metric tons of salmon to Thailand per year. Camanchaca wants to take at least 10 percent of this market in the next few years, said Shiraishi.
Likewise for mussels, the volumes from Chile to Thailand are around 2,000 metric tons per year and Camanchaca want to account for at least 10 percent of this.
“Another thing setting us apart from our competitors are our abalone products as well,” said Shiraishi. “These have a great opportunity to be sold in restaurants in the Thai and Vietnamese markets, and at $20 per kilo are reasonably priced."
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Friday, May 22, 1.04 p.m ICT
Indian shrimp production to climb 20% in 2015
Indian seafood exporter Seven Seas is expecting Indian shrimp production to jump 15-20 percent this year as the sector in the country continues to benefit from the downfall of the industry in other major producing nations.
Seven Sea handles a number of species, such as mackerel, cuttlefish, sardines, but vannamei shrimp now makes up 80 percent of the business.
“Vannamei has picked up in a very good way," Salim Iqbal, managing director at the company told IntraFish. “It is revolutionizing the business in India.”
Seven Seas, which only exports frozen shrimp, sold around 10,000 metric tons in 2014 and targets 12,000 metric tons this year.
“The whole Indian industry will see more quantity in 2015 as more farmers are jumping in. I expect it to grow 15-20 percent this year,” he said.
When asked if there is a danger the industry is growing too fast, Iqbal said this could be the case, but the government and MPEDA is doing a good job at keeping disease at bay so far.
“Maybe by 2017 we will see if it has grown too fast, but for now, while the going is good, things are going well.”
India is also seeing a lot of interest from foreign companies and investors wanting to get in on the action, he said. TUF recently announced a JV with Avanti feed to build a processing facility in the country.
“They all want to invest in India and build up factories. This trend will probably continue for the next two years or so,” said Iqbal.
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Friday, May 22, 10.51 a.m ICT
PTN Group turns attention on domestic market
Thai seafood packer and exporter PTN Group has been increasing its domestic sales over the past year as the country’s economy has been improving and buying power increasing, according to an executive at the company who did not wish to be named.
Like many other players, since the EMS crisis in the country PTN Group has been expanding its VAP range and is also diversifying into other products such as fish, salmon and mussels, which it sources from Camanchaca in Chile.
“Domestic sales increased significantly last year as demand is higher and the economy improved so people have more buying power,” said the executive. “Thai people are also shopping more and more in supermarkets rather than local fishmarkets for their food as well.”
Sales for the company increased in 2014 over 2013 and “we expect things will only get better,” said the executive. She also expects to be back up at full capacity in the next two years.
“There will be no expansion for PTN until the [shrimp] supply in Thailand comes back. This year will be better, but not fully better, I don’t think.”
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Friday, May 22, 10.00 a.m ICT
Lucky Union Foods excited about AEC potential
Surimi manufacturer Lucky Union Foods (LUF), is excited by the opportunities opening up with the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), according to its marketing director Suradech Chinsakuljaroen.
Free trade between 10 countries in the region is expected to be in place by the end of 2015, and Chinsakuljaroen thinks this will have huge potential for LUF’s sales.
“All markets will be open so it is a good opportunity for all of Thailand,” he said. The company is expecting to post revenues of around $1 billion in 2015 – a 10 percent increase on the circa $900 million it made in 2014, said Chinsakuljaroen.
This will partially be driven by the recent refurbishment of its surimi factory in Thailand which has resulted in a 100 percent increase in capacity from 20,000 metric tons to 40,000 metric tons.
“At the moment we are producing around 25,000 metric tons, but we have plenty of room to grow,” said Chinsakuljaroen.
LUF is also focusing on expanding its sales abroad, both private label and its own brand, into markets such as the US and the EU. “It is not just the Asian market, but every market has an Asian community which is where we shall focus,” said Chinsakuljaroen.
Last September the company also opened up its own retail outlet in Laos, and depending on the results, Chinsakuljaroen said the initiative could also roll out to other countries in the region such as Cambodia and Myanmar.
LUF is launching a number of new products at the show including Thai fishcakes with chill sauce inside and crabsticks and sausage.
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Thursday, May 21, 6.30 p.m ICT
Skipjack tuna prices bottom out
Skipjack tuna prices have bottomed out and are slowly starting to creep up again.
In April prices bottomed out at around $1,000 per metric ton and are now up slightly to $1,100 per metric ton, according to major players in the Thai tuna industry.
From reaching a peak of around $2,400 per metric ton a couple of years ago, prices recently dropped to a low of $1,000 per metric ton, and these wild swings in the industry are “dangerous," Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA), told IntraFish.
“The gap is too big and it is dangerous for the whole industry,” he said. “No one really wins but there are two main losers – consumers and producers.”
According to Aramwattananont, the industry needs to find some sort of “fair price” and keep it stable. He suggests around $1,400 would be fair and reasonable for all parties.
This year Thailand exported 595,463 metric tons of tuna, up from 550,884 a year earlier, an increase of 8 percent year-on-year, according to Chanintr Chalisarapong, president of the Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA).
However, with the low prices, the value of tuna exports fell 10 percent over the same period to $2.38 billion from $2.65 billion, he said.
The US is still Thailand’s largest market for tuna with a share of 19 percent or 111,124 metric tons, while the EU only accounted for 9 percent in 2014. Exports to the EU fell from 79,914 metric tons in 2013 to 55,510 metric tons last year.
“And in Q1 this year, the situation does not improve much, and purchasing power is weakening globally,” said Chalisarapong.
“But supply of raw materials is decreasing slightly so the prices are starting to trend upwards, they are now around $1,100 per metric tons,” he said.
Chalisarapong concurred with Aramwattananont that prices need to stop fluctuating so wildly and a price level needs to be reached that is “reasonable and sustainable” for everyone involved, including the fishermen. “Somewhere between $1,200 and $1,400 should be workable for everyone,” he said.
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Thursday, May 21, 6.12 p.m ICT
TUF expects to generate $12 million in sales from Thaifex Show
Thai Union Frozen Foods (TUF) is expecting to generate more than THB 400 million (€10.8 million/$12 million) in sales at this year’s show.
Yesterday, Sasinan Allmand, head of corporate communications at the group, welcomed Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to Thai Union's pavilion at ThaiFex.
One of the highlights includes an ice bar with a 1.5 meter giant, deep-ocean tuna from the Pacific Ocean and imported lobster products.
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Thursday, May 21, 6.05 p.m ICT
TTIA: Fixing illegal fishing practices all depends on the government
No part of Thailand’s tuna value chain is involved in any illegal activity, according to Chanintr Chalisarapong, president of the Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA), and the responsibility to fix the situation in the country lies solely with the government, he said.
“We need a new monitoring system from the government. The department of fisheries has to revise the law and make it compatible to international law. It all depends on the government, but the tuna value chain is not involved in any illegal activity.”
Thailand has been given a yellow card from the EU and has six months to sort itself out or face a red card. But this is not the important point, said Chalisarapong.
“Yellow card or red card, it doesn’t matter. We want to see our government doing the right thing and complying with international law – full stop.”
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Thursday, May 21, 4.10 p.m ICT
Bumble Bee-linked SeaValue plans to go public in 2 years
Thai tuna processor SeaValue has plans to list publicly within the next couple of years, in a bid to expand its operations.
The company currently has three foreign investors who each have a 10 percent stake in the company – Itochu, FCF, and Bumble Bee.
Essentially Sea Value is waiting for the impending deal between Bumble Bee and TUF to settle down before making any decisions on becoming publicly listed.
“We see a lot of opportunities and it doesn’t need to be human foods, we can see potential in many other areas,” said Amornphan Aramwatananont, senior vice president of SeaValue.
"Capital raised from a listing would be used to expand and build better infrastructure as well as increase cost savings," Aramwatananont said.
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Thursday, May 21, 3.50 p.m ICT
Tuna processor turns focus on pet food
Thai tuna processor SeaValue is turning its focus on developing the pet food side of its business, where it sees great growth opportunities.
While the innovation in the human canned tuna market has stagnated, on the pet food side of things there is much potential to grow, according to Amornphan Aramwatananont, senior vice president of SeaValue.
“We are looking at innovation and our emphasis is on pet food, where we are increasing capacity,” he said.
“For pet food there are unlimited possibilities, but for human canned tuna – in the US for example – there has been little change or improvement for many years.”
The EU is more open to innovation, Aramwatananont added, but still there has not been much change in the last 10 years, he said.
SeaValue has grown over the past 10 years, reaching peak revenues of $800 million a couple of years ago as a result of high raw material prices for tuna.
In 2014, sales volume increased 10 percent, but prices were lower and revenues for the company were $680 million, said Aramwatananont.
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Thursday, May 21, 3.15 p.m ICT
EU yellow card biggest challenge facing Thai tuna processors
The biggest issue facing the tuna industry is the yellow card recently imposed on the country by the European Union, according to Amornphan Aramwatananont, senior vice president of SeaValue.
“Fortunately 90 percent of tuna is imported and fully traceable, but it is the remaining 10 percent that is the challenge,” said Aramwatananont.
However the Thai government is set to introduce a new and updated Fisheries Act that should help solve the problem, he said.
The new act should include things such as a new vessel monitoring system and reporting system.
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Thursday, May 21, 12.45 p.m ICT
SeaWealth drives its shrimp VAP, ready-to-eat range in EU
Thai shrimp processor Sea Wealth, part of the Wales Group, is looking to increase its exports of value-added (VAP) and ready-to-eat seafood products to Europe and Canada, Wannasiri Aramwattananont, marketing director at the company, told IntraFish.
Like a lot of processors in the country, Sea Wealth is prioritizing its VAP business in a bid to diversify and reduce its reliance on the shrimp commodity market as local supplies dwindle.
“We started with ready-to-eat in the US – for example in Trader Joes -- now we are in Costco in the UK, and Costco and Coles in Australia as well,” said Aramwattananont.
“But we are expanding our product variety and want to expand further into EU markets such as the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and then Canada as well,” she said.
The company, which is targeting revenues of THB 3 billion in 2015, is attempting to be as diversified as possible.
In one of its factories, for example, Aramwattananont said one line will be processing shrimp, another will be doing squid, another breaded products and another ready-to-eat.
Three years ago, 70 percent of the company’s business was commodity shrimp, while 30 percent was in VAP. This has now shifted to 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively, and the aim is to ultimately become a split of 50 percent and 50 percent.
SeaWealth is another company looking to diversify into chicken processing as well, Aramwattananont said, for the local Thai market.
“Chicken is a major protein source in Thailand, and it is a cheaper protein. We will be looking to sell it to our existing customer who already buy seafood from us,” she said.
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Thursday, May 21, 12.00 p.m ICT
Thai tuna processor moves into salmon VAP
Thai tuna processor and exporter Tuna Paradise is launching a new range of value-added salmon products at Thaifex this year.
Kalal Selvan, CEO of Tuna Paradise, said the company was looking to expand with new customers and new species, and is launching smoked salmon products as well as salmon roe to add to its repertoire. The salmon is sourced from Norway and will be mainly sold on the local Thai market, he said.
Its main business is sashimi grade yellowfin tuna, and the company is currently reporting revenues of around $1 million per month.
“It is yellowfin, long-line-caught tuna mainly for the sashimi market, and business is expanding” said Selvan.
With catches slightly lower in the Indonesian market, prices are slightly higher for this fish at the moment, but really “they are fluctuating all the time, according to oil prices,” he said.
As a guide, Selvan said prices were around $4 per kilo for the lower grade and $6-$7 per kilo for the higher grade.
The company’s largest market is Japanese restaurants in the United States, which account for 60-70 percent of total revenues. It exports 75-100 metric tons to the US per month, the rest goes to local markets in Asia.
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Thursday, May 21, 11.00 a.m ICT
Shrimp processor turns focus on VAP in wake of EMS
Since 2013, after suffering the effects EMS, Thai shrimp processor Suraporn has been turning its focus on value-added products, Thomas Ung, general manager for the export sales group, told IntraFish.
“Before EMS hit we were big on shrimp commodity items, but now we are trying to minimize this as much as possible,” Ung said. “It is also difficult to compete with our neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and India.”
The company is now focusing on VAP and increasing its ready-meal business using less shrimp and maximizing the inclusion of other fish, vegetables and fruit.
“It is about balancing the loss of raw material,” Ung said. The company is also increasing its imports of raw material from other countries such as Vietnam and India, he added.
It is about managing overhead costs, and reducing commodity sales. Over the years the company has had to reduce its workforce, similar to other packers in the country but is still able to maintain the running of its three facilities.
“We have been looking to increase efficiency and reduce costs, and manage internal factors,” Ung said.
Before the crisis, around 35-40 percent of Suraporn’s business was in commodities but now the VAP business makes up 95 percent of what the company does.
In 2014, Suraporn reported revenues of around $170 million and produced around 3,500 metric tons of VAP shrimp products. Japan remains the company’s largest market, accounting for 60 percent of exports. The remaining markets include the US, EU, Australia and the Middle East.
The loss of Thailand’s GSP status to the EU market is also making life difficult for all Thai companies, he said.
Duties on VAP products heading to the EU have increased from 7 percent to 20 percent, he said, while duties on commodity shrimp have now gone up from 3.5 percent to 20 percent.
“The EU has become a big challenge, but we will still be persistent and support our customers there,” Ung said. “We are still targeting the EU and will not pull out for the moment, our policy is to maintain the situation and key accounts.”
The company is also diversifying by growing its chicken processing and exports, Ung added.
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Wednesday, May 20, 6.00 p.m ICT
Global shrimp markets quiet and dull
Global shrimp markets are still a little bit quiet in terms of demand from North America, Europe and China, according to Jim Gulkin, managing director of Siam Canadian Group.
“It is starting to pick up a little, but the major retailers and buyers need to start buying,” he said.
There was a heavier inventory in the United States after the New Year and Lent holidays than there normally would be, so it is a quiet, dull market and prices are soft, according to Gulkin.
There is not an abundance of raw material either, so overall production is OK as well, he said.
However, things are likely to pick up soon as retailers need to buy product for Q3 and Q4 of the year.
At the moment average prices are looking around $3.40 per kilo for sizes 31/40 easy peel, $3.70 per kilo for 26/30 easy peel, and $3.20 per kilo for easy peel 41/50, Gulkin said.
“So they have moved down quite a bit, but they will move up again when buying starts in earnest in around 30-40 days time.
“They will probably then move up between 5-10 percent and remain steady in the third quarter.”
In Europe, things are already starting to pick up as inventories are becoming depleted, however, the exchange rate is also affecting the ability to buy.
Overall, though, Gulkin is not predicting any major fluctuations in the coming months.
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Wednesday, May 20, 5.13 p.m ICT
Kilic looks to export 500 metric tons of bluefin tuna in 2015
Turkish bass and bream producer Kilic, which recently invested in a new bluefin tuna operation, expects to export around 500 metric tons of the prized fish to Japan this year, Sinan Kiziltan, executive VP at the company, told IntraFish.
“Production has been pretty successful, both in terms of farming and wild catch,” he said.
According to Kiziltan, the company has been able to successfully farm bluefin from juvenile to around 15 kilograms in size. “We aim to get them to 40 kilograms,” he said.
Kiziltan refused to give away the secret to the success, but did say it took a lot of trials to get to this point.
Kilic reported record exports in 2014, reaching $106 million, making it the number one exporter in Turkey.
The growth is mainly the result of its VAP division, which is seeing ready-to-cook products entering more markets, as well as branching out into new species.
“We are concentrating on value-added products and getting the products into more markets,” said Kiziltan. “We are already in the United States and the Middle East,” he said.
“But also we are looking to grow new business, species and products such as blue crab, trout and trout roe.”
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Wednesday, May 20, 5.00 p.m ICT
EU bass and bream prices reach €6/kg
Average prices for sea bass and sea bream in Europe at the moment are as high as €6 per kilo for sizes 400-600 grams, according to Sinan Kiziltan, executive VP at Turkish producer Kilic.
“We are very happy with prices at the moment, and we expect they will continue at this high level until the end of the year,” Kiziltan said.
Prices have gone up as a direct result of production in both Turkey and Greece declining or at least “stabilizing” he said.
“Greece’s production has dropped as a result of their financial difficulties, while Turkish producers did not make as much profit as they wanted to last year so this year they are producing less.”
According to Kiziltan, total bass and bream production will not exceed 180,000 metric tons this year, half of which will come from Greece and half from Turkey.
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Wednesday, May 20, 3.42 p.m ICT
France’s surimi market is the ‘biggest worry’
Demand for surimi seafood products in Europe is generally promising, according to Dirk Belmans, CEO of Viciunai Europe, except for one key market – France.
The United Kingdom is promising, Belmans said, and the market has seen a growth in consumption. Benelux is also good at the moment, while Spain is performing “very well,” he said.
“The biggest worry is France,” said Belmans, as the market is seeing both demand and consumption now decreasing year-on-year.
“It is a worrying situation because France used to be a market which saw double-digit growth for the past 15 years, but then it went flat, and now it is going down.”
This is because France is a saturated market in terms of the types of products, he said. “It has peaked.” It is also partially why Viciunai has launched its new ‘Fritters’ in a bid to introduce new ways of consuming surimi.
“Future growth in France will come from good quality, innovative solutions, and getting people to consume surimi in a different way,” he said.
For example, at the moment in France and Europe, practically all surimi is consumed cold. “Imagine the market potential if people started to eat it hot like they do in Asia, this is where the market potential lies,” Belmans said.
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Wednesday, May 20, 3.30 p.m ICT
Viciunai to launch fritters in French hypermarket
Viciunai has inked a deal with French retail giant E. Leclerc, to sell its recently launched surimi "Fritters" beginning in September.
Initially introduced at the Brussels Seafood Expo in April, the launch in France will be complemented with an advertising campaign and coincide with the Rugby World Cup, Dirk Belmans, CEO of Viciunai Europe, told IntraFish.
“The idea is to portray the Fritters as a snack that people can eat while watching the rugby on TV, and they can be eaten hot or cold” he said.
Viciunai is in Thailand predominantly because a number of its surimi suppliers are based here, but also because it is looking to get its VAP salmon and breaded fish products into Asian markets, Belmans said.
“Since last year we have been trying to go further with our products than ever before – Japan, the Middle East and now Thailand,” he said.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2.00 p.m ICT
Turkey takes on Thailand
Another show, another country, and the Turkish Seafood Promotion Group (STG) has a stand.
This time the group is assessing the appetite for Turkish seafood products in Thailand – specifically seabass, seabream and trout.
“This is the first time for us at the Thaifex Show, so we are looking to see the interest here,” said Serap Unal of STG.
The group is hoping to have success in Thailand, mainly because of the large number of seafood restaurants in the country, the high consumption of seafood here, as well as the large number of tourists, said Unal.
The STG has been aggressively pushing Turkish Seafood into new markets for more than a year. Since this time last year, Unal said the group has added 10 more countries to its list of export markets.
“So it is all paying off,” she said. Next up is South Africa, she said, followed by the Seafood in Hong Kong.
“Asia is not so big for us, but there are so many tourists in Thailand and Hong Kong, they are hopeful markets I think.”
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Wednesday, May 20, 12.50 p.m ICT
Surimi processor hit by soaring raw material costs
Thai surimi processor Smile Heart Foods is being squeezed at the moment due to soaring raw material prices in the region.
“There have been a lot of problems this year,” Rojjanin Phatchararuangkij, managing director at the firm, told IntraFish.
While demand for surimi products is stable, the supply of raw material has shrunk dramatically, said Phatchararuangkij, not least because of fishing restrictions in place in Indonesian waters.
“This means the cost of surimi is really high as supply is down with the catching area in Indonesia closed,” he said. Smile Heart Foods is one of Thailand’s largest producers of value-added surimi products, such as fish balls, crabsticks, breaded and imitation products.
It exports around 60 percent of what it produces, predominately to the US and other Asian countries, and in 2014 had revenues of THB 8 billion, according to Phatchararuangkij.
Despite the difficult situation of high raw material costs, Phatchararuangkij is hopeful the company will increases sales 20-25 percent by 2016. “This year there have been a lot of problems, next year will be better,” he said.
In an attempt to offset the poor surimi performance and diversify, Smile Heart Foods has just launched Shirataki noodle products into the Asian market, Phatchararuangkij said.
This is its first move away from seafood.
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Wednesday, May 20, 12.00 p.m ICT
Marine Gold Products enters ready-meal market
In the wake of early mortality syndrome (EMS), Thai shrimp processor Marine Gold Products has scaled down its operations to around 60 percent to match the available raw material.
The company, which had revenues of around $300 million in 2014, plans to increase production back up to 80 percent next year, however, and has recently diversified into offering ready-to -at products.
“We are diversifying into the ready-to-eat sector for both the domestic market and other Asian markets such as Korea and Japan,” Choopon Luesukprasert, managing director of Marine Gold Products, told IntraFish.
“We have the people and resources available to do that,” he said.
The products have been launched under the new brand "Mama Wu" and include traditional Thai meals such as Pad Thai, Fired Rice and Tom Yum.
According to Luesukprasert, shrimp farming in Thailand has “more or less settled down” and has found ways to cope with EMS.
“Farmers have come up with new ways to farm shrimp – farming is promising, we may not see an immediate effect, but it has bottomed out.
The industry is expecting to produce around 300,000 metric tons in 2015 – “but we will see how it will go,” Luesukprasert.
There is even talk of reaching 600,000 metric tons in a few years time, but according to Luesukprasert, “this is a dangerous figure.”
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Wednesday, May 20, 11.30 a.m ICT
Processor targets 4-star BAP certification on back of Walmart demand
Thai shrimp processor Marine Gold Products is working hard to get some of its supplier farms 4-star BAP certified, due to increasing demand from one of its major customers, Walmart.
“Walmart is pushing for us and our importers to get some of our farm clusters to 4-star BAP certification,” said Choopon Luesukprasert, managing director of Marine Gold Products.
“Along with our importer Beaver Street Fisheries, we are working hard to get a cluster of small and medium sized farms certified,” he said.
The five farms in question are located in the southern Thailand province of Surat Thani, said Luesukprasert. The region accounts for around 10 percent of Thai shrimp production.
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Wednesday, May 20, 11.00 a.m ICT
TUF CEO: it will take a while for Thailand to regain its position in shrimp
It’s going to take a while for Thailand to regain its number one position in the global shrimp market, Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF) told IntraFish.
“I don’t see it happening in the foreseeable future,” Chansiri said. “This year we expect to see 20-30 percent growth – if we can achieve that, the next step would be to expect more.”
This next step would be to see Thailand up to 400,000 metric tons, he said.
“I don’t know how soon we can achieve that but we are optimistic. If by 2017 we would be very happy.”
As a result of the low production, TUF has no plans to expand in Thailand, simply because “there is not enough supply." Instead the company is working with its Indian partners to establish processing facility in India, which is “the way to go for now,” said Chansiri.
“India now has become very important, the number one supplier to America, so it is a good place to be."
While there is still a risk India could develop its own EMS crisis, Chansiri says he hopes this will not be the case, and the country will learn from the experiences of Thailand and the others, and have plenty of room for growth.
The Thai shrimp sector has inevitably seen some consolidation since the onset of EMS, and a number of companies have been forced to exit the industry.
“There are not many people active right now due to the low supply and high prices over the past few years,” said Chansiri. “If you did not have a strong market base, you lost demand for the business. During the past 2-3 years, the EMS period, it has been a tough time for the industry.”
With supply shrinking down more than half from more than 500,000 metric tons to 200,000 metric tons, “there is not much room for everyone.”
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Wednesday, May 20, 8.00 a.m ICT
Seafood world descends on Bangkok
Thaifex - World of Food Asia opens today, with more than 32,000 visitors expected to visit the exhibition over the next five days.
"With the strong presence of new country groups - Germany, Mexico and Turkey - along with the robust participation of Asian pavilions from China, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Japan, visitors will have no shortage of opportunities to build new business relationships," according to the event organizers Koelnmesse.
Featuring unique products from many parts of the world, the twelfth edition of the event will take place as usual at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center in the north of the city, and visitors can look forward to around 1,600 exhibitors in four halls covering a total area of 70,000 square meter.
The event will also play host to the third edition of World of Seafood, with participation from a number of major players in the Thai seafood processing industry including Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF), Sea Value, Sea Wealth, Seafresh and Lucky Union Foods among many others.
Additionally, many international exhibitors will also take part, with the Turkish Seafood Promotion Committee, VASEP and India's MPEDA having a presence this year.
Keep checking back here for all the latest news from the show floor.
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