A live seafood oxygen transport system – which features real-time data tracking – is now available in Europe.
Mount Waverly, Victoria, Australia-based FloatPac has signed an agreement with LipFish AS to expand the distribution of FloatPac’s FishPac live seafood transportation systems in Europe.
Under the terms of the deal, Tromsø, Norway-based LipFish has been granted agency for FloatPac’s road and air freight systems in Europe, which include an oxygen delivery system designed for air freight.
“It’s an exciting development and a real game-changer for the European market,” FloatPac CEO Gavin Hodgins said in a press release.
The first 42 units are on the water for delivery to Norway, and an additional 3,500 FishPac bins are expected to be sold into Europe within the next two years, with each bin containing up to 500 kilograms of life fish or shellfish.
LipFish’s FishPac bins will be outfitted with sensors that will allow for detailed data collection, LipFish owner Robert Robertson said. The sensors collect data and send it back to the cloud in three-minute increments, according to Robertson.
“We have worked closely with FishPac to develop sensoring technology for our bins, which will allow us to see what’s happening inside every bin in real-time,” Robertson said. “This data can then be accessed by all parties in the supply chain for a very clear understanding of what has happened during transport and – in the unlikely event of something going wrong – we will be able to pinpoint this problem quickly and fix it."
Launched in 2000, the FishPac system has been used in more than 250,000 bins and totes in Australia, Indonesia, the Maldives, Japan, Canada, the United States, and Iceland. FishPac also received regulatory authority to ship into China last year.
Hodgins said the deal came to fruition after numerous meetings between company officials in both Australia and Europe.
“After spending three intensive days last year with Robert and his father, Olav, here in Melbourne, it quickly became obvious there was a very significant opportunity to develop a strong business relationship,” Hodgins said. “The level of detail that Robert and his team had gone into with respect to business and marketing plans for FishPac in Europe culminated in the signing of an agreement, followed by a visit to Norway by John Curtain, FloatPac director and chairman, to further develop the relationship.”
