Iceland-based seafood processing equipment company Valka has announced that it has contracted with Båtsfjordbruket to provide two complete automated fillet processing lines.
The company, which specializes in high-tech, automated processing for whitefish and salmon, will build two complete systems for trimming, cutting, and distribution of packing of fillets and portions, according to a release from Valka. Båtsfjordbruket is a subsidiary of the Nordic seafood group Insula AS.
"The new Valka production lines will allow us to strategically improve our capabilities and serve our customers in the best possible way. Furthermore, it will greatly improve our competitiveness in an ever more demanding market,” Frank Kristiansen, the CEO of Båtfjordbruket, said.
The automated lines, the two companies said, are a way to provide narrow product specifications to customers while offsetting the challenge posed by a lack of skilled workers in the industry.
“With the new highly automated processing lines, the company is ready to produce a complicated mix of products, fresh and frozen in a highly efficient manner,” the Valka release said.
Valka has worked with Båtfjordbruket before; in 2015 a fully automated whole fish grading system was installed at the plant.
“We are honored to be part of this ambitious project and in helping Båtsfjordbruket achieve their goals,” Kristjan Kristjansson, general director of Valka AS, said.
Valka recently debuted a new water-jet cutter at Seafood Processing Global in Brussels, Belgium, anad also recently hired Kim André Gabrielsen, formerly of Lerøy Norway Seafoods.
Photo courtesy of Valka
