As of Wednesday, Parlevliet & Van der Plas (P&P) has taken over Heiploeg, after the Dutch shrimp supplier was declared bankrupt.
The name of the new company will be Heiploeg International.
P&P will also be acquiring the fishing activities in Surinam (MSC certified) and British Guyana with the Heiploeg takeover, including 38 shrimp vessels and processing facilities ashore. These will offer employment to approximately 850 people. The company also has a shrimp-peeling workshop in Morocco, which employs about 2,000 people. The head office and processing plant in Zoutkamp has 300 members of staff, where the North Sea and tropical shrimp are processed and delivered to customers.
“The acquisition is a welcome, additional activity to strengthen our own business model,” said Diek Parlevliet, P&P director. “We hope to be able to use our many years of knowledge and experience in the fishing industry, as well as the processing and marketing of fish products, to return Heiploeg to smooth waters once again. In addition to the pelagic and demersal fish types, this will also mean the addition of shrimps to P&P’s fish assortment.”
Heiploeg’s frozen shrimp division in Belgium, Morubel, will become an independent company. The company has been part of Heiploeg since 1999.
“Morubel is a financially sound company and we are extremely proud of our workforce. For Morubel nothing changes and employment will remain stable and unchanged,” the company said. “Gradually it became apparent that frozen and chilled are quite separate segments with their own dynamics that require different approaches. In order to focus better on the frozen business, our shareholders have decided that Morubel will follow its own course.
“Our company in Osted can therefore fully concentrate on the frozen sector for the entire product flow, from purchasing over production and order processing to logistics. Morubel can optimize its expertise in frozen and raise its company profile.”
