Sykes Seafood and Klaas Puul joined as one ownership structure in 2019, this coming together of two like-minded businesses has since created one of the largest producers of Shrimp based products in Europe. Both businesses operate from state-of-the-art facilities in Liverpool (UK) Volendam and Edam (Netherlands) and
Tangier (Morocco).
The Klaas Puul interest in Morocco dates back to 1989 when the family-run business led by Evert Mooijer invested in Peeling in Tangier. In 2014 Evert Mooijer decided to make a huge investment of €15m to build a state of art 11,000sq meter facility in Tangier. To date, this facility has revolutionised the supply chain for a number of shrimp-based products but most notably North Sea Brown Shrimp. Employing over 3,500 local people, Klaas Puul Tangier operates the highest food safety and social and ethical accreditations, situated at the foot of Europe it offers an unparalleled supply chain to its customers across Europe.
As a group, we continue to strive for operational excellence and at the heart of what we do is the people we employ in all of our factories. This is why we have also set up a comprehensive education and medical scheme for all of our staff in Morocco. We also have a dedicated charitable foundation called the Klaas Puul Foundation which in conjunction with other charities supports the local schools and hospitals in transporting medical equipment and school materials from Europe to Tangier. Our endeavours in Morocco have been a success for our group, our staff, the local community in Morocco and equally our customers.
We are therefore delighted to announce that we have today entered an agreement to invest in two additional facilities in Morocco, representing a total joint investment of €40m over the next two years. This investment is a testament to the support of the Moroccan government and all of our local staff. Details of each facility can be found below.
The first facility is to be based next to our existing facility in Tangier, the project here is unique to our industry and is being developed in collaboration with the Mascir Foundation, a Moroccan-based academic institute specialising in the recovery of shrimp shells for further use in the Medical and Pharmaceutical industries, this is ground-breaking technology, and we will process over 7,000mt of Shrimp shells annually and create further local jobs.
The second facility is to be based in the Eastern coastal city of Fnideq. This is to be a 25,000 sq. meter facility which will significantly widen the scope of value-add products available to the Sykes and Klaas Puul customer base.
The scope includes the below but is not limited to:
• Peeling, cooking and freezing of Vannamei / Black Tiger / Pandalus and Argentinian red shrimp, including a cooked in the shell facility where we can peel post-cooking to retain flavour and colour.
• A full white fish filleting, portioning, and packing facility for the processing of cod and haddock into finished packs suitable for UK and European major retailers and foodservice clients.
• A wide range of value-added products, tapas-style ranges, marinades and RTE options across a range of species
• The final addition will be a range of coated products across both Shrimp and Whitefish species on both a handcrafted, and machine-processed model.
On many species, this facility will allow us to produce products at the foot of Europe and significantly cut down shipping times and food miles, shortening the food supply chain has been central to our decision-making and continued investment in Morocco, our customers have told us this and we have listened.
Fish and Seafood rely on a global network of origins, we have seen the enormous issues the industry and our customers have faced with the well-documented shipping issues from all sources of origin but most notably China and other Far Eastern origins. Costs have increased dramatically, and our view is that they are here for the long term and that availability of both raw material and shipping line bookings has become a clear and present danger to smooth ongoing supply.
At the foot of Europe, we see Morocco as an industry-changing critical advantage giving our customers complete security of availability so we can react quickly to the changes in demand in our retail and foodservice customer base. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be defining and concluding our product offering and excitably look forward to sharing with our customers the point of difference, we will be offering and the benefits we see this investment bring to not only those customers, but to the industry as a whole.
We would like to again thank the Moroccan authorities and the relevant local bodies for their support of the Sykesand Klaas Puul business and we look forward to onward sustainable growth together for many more years to come.