Sealord gets value from frozen asset

Fisheries company Sealord says it has developed a value-added export programme with the potential to earn $8 million a year.

The individually quick-frozen fillet programme, based at Sealord's Dunedin factory, had increased the company's sales by $4.5 million a year since it was set up two years ago, chief executive Phil Lough said.

The programme had also created 25 jobs.

Mr Lough said Sealord had inherited a $1 million "tunnel" freezer from Fletcher Fishing, the previous owners of the plant.

The tunnel froze fillets individually, instead of in 10kg packs, but hadn't been used for six years because shipping the fillets had been uneconomic.

Mr Lough said changes in shipping costs and development work by company managers based in Japan had now made the programme viable.

"The second factor was critical because the Japanese market for individually frozen fillets is very difficult to penetrate."

Mr Lough said most Sealord products were sold to Japanese restaurants, while others were bagged for the North American market.

"We get a premium price for products of this kind and we now produce a wide range of them. This insulates us from price drops that affect commodity sellers and creates more demand for our products."

The June year was highly successful for the group, with sales hitting new heights, operating profitability up 40 per cent and strong forward orders for products, Mr Lough said.

- NZPA