Cherbourg, France-based Nutrifish has gone into receivership, according to Ouest France.
The move took place 11 March, and the plant’s 33 workers have been terminated per the order of the judge overseeing the liquidation process, the newspaper reported.
Nutrifish was founded in 2014 to process the byproducts of seafood processing – such as salmon heads, bones, and skin – into products for human consumption. However, as seafood processors became more efficient in recent years, raw material costs rose, according to the company’s director, Georges Marco.
“The raw materials essential to ensure the growth and sustainability of the business have become scarce and have become more expensive," Marco told Ouest France.
Nutrifish processed both wild-caught and farmed seafood, buying raw materials from other processors, then performing an extraction to separate fish pulp and oil. Final products includes fish rillettes, fish powder for flavoring, protein powder used as a dietary supplement, and other materials used in cosmetics.
The altered global economic situation caused the seafood market caused by the coronavirus crisis was the breaking point for Nutrifish, according to Marco.
“We had 15 contracts from five companies, French and international, from various sectors of activity, [and] had great projects. All recognized the industrial performance of the site and our know-how,” he said. “Unfortunately, the health crisis prevented any visit to the site, prior to a purchase, and disrupted the decision-making circuits of companies, preventing [us] from [making] successful [sales]. If we had had six or seven more months, the situation could have been different.”
Nutrifish’s assets will be sold at auction in the latter half of June, and Ouest France reported at least five separate parties are interested in making a bid.
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