Maldives Industrial Fisheries Co. (MIFCO) will likely expand in the next year, CEO Ismail Fauzy told SeafoodSource at the 2019 Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.
MIFCO is the largest seafood company in the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. The company has more than 1,800 employees.
The expansion is necessary to complete a conversion to a higher percentage of value-added production, a significant shift away from the company’s historical business of exporting frozen and canned tuna.
“Right now, we are working with the government to expand our facilities,” Fauzy said.
Government funding will be necessary to complete the expansion and renovation of some or all of MIFCO’s four facilities in the Maldives, Fauzy said.
“I think it’s likely we’ll get the help,” he said. “We will get what we need. Hopefully, within two to three months we can make upgrades to the facilities.”
Over a five-year time-span, Fauzy wants to up MIFCO’s production from 65 metric tons to 120 metric tons per week.
“That’s based on our collection capacity,” Fauzy said.
All of MIFCO’s tuna is caught by the pole-and-line fishing method, and is certified by the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF).
Pole- and line-caught tuna is not attracting as much of a price premium as the company expected, and so Fauzy is looking at upping its marketing of its Marine Stewardship Council certification and switching over entirely to value-added products, with an emphasis on skinning and pouching, Fauzy said.
“The challenge for us is that the price of frozen tuna is not good,” Fauzy said. “It’s difficult to export frozen right now so we are looking to value addition in our facilities.”
Under previous leadership, MIFCO operated in the red and relied on MVR 87 million (USD 5.6 million, EUR 5 million) in government assistance – including MVR 37 million (USD 2.4 million, EUR 2.1 million) in grants and MVR 50 million (USD 3.2 million, EUR 2.9 million) in loans in 2018, according to the Maldives Sun. After granting the financial assistance, Maldives Fisheries Minister Zaha Waheed in November 2018 warned the company to change its ways and become profitable, the Sun reported.
Fauzy took over as CEO in December 2018.
