Chilean salmon feed supplier Salmofood has announced it has completed a USD 12 million (EUR 10.7 million) investment into an expansion of its plant in Castro, Chiloe, in the south of Chile. The expansion adds 100,000 metric tons (MT) of annual production capacity.
In a statement, the company said that the expansion will bring the plant’s total capacity to 250,000 tons (MT) annually. The expansion considers a new production line that can process any kind of feed with a capacity of 20 MT per hour. This will allow the plant to handle higher volume and more complex production requirements.
“In addition to producing more tonnage, this new line will allow us to better supply our clients and have greater flexibility at the moment of creating new feed strategies,” Ernesto Passalacqua, Salmofood’s commercial manager, said.
The new plant is completely automated and built with cutting-edge technology to meet high standards of food safety to produce feed for the aquaculture industry, Passalacqua said. The company also said that it has expanded its warehouse space for finished products, growing to 10,000 square meters of storage capacity.
According to the statement, the new plant is already functional, and the company expects that it will satisfy growing demand from the industry.
“This is one of the most technologically advanced plants in the region, and this allows us to be more efficient and deliver a balanced product with optimal quality, therefore helping to grow the industry,” Passalacqua said.
Salmofoods is part of the Alicorp group, a Lima, Peru-based consumer goods and feed conglomerate, which acquired the feed producer in 2012.
