Salmon deal slips from Young’s grasp
Although the new supplier is yet to be announced, it seems to confirm the long term speculation in the seafood industry that the contract will go to Marine Harvest, who moved into the processing side of the business with the acquisition of Morpol – which brought with it processing facilities in Rosyth and Poland – back in 2013.
The announcement is grim for Young’s employees at its processing facilities in Fraserburgh (which currently produces the smoked salmon for Sainsbury's) and the Centre of Salmon Excellence, in the Grimsby's Marsden Road (which currnetly produces the fresh salmon products for the supormarket chain), and it is thought that up to 600 jobs could be at risk betwen the two plants.
On the other hand, the news is likely to come as a real boost to the Fife port of Rosyth, where Marine Harvest’s dedicated salmon processing facility is based and it is thought that employnment levels could increase from their current levels of around 90 to around 350.
Pete Ward, who was appointed as CEO of Young’s Seafood Limited in January, announced: “We confirm that, following a tendering process, Young’s has not retained the fresh salmon and smoked salmon processing contracts with Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s wished to protect its Scottish salmon sourcing credentials and believed an alternative proposal could better achieve this objective. This alternative proposal also offered Sainsbury a dedicated facility.
“Sainsbury’s remains an important customer for Young’s and we will continue to work together in other categories to deliver great fish and seafood products to Sainsbury’s customers. It is presently anticipated that the salmon contracts will transfer from Young’s to Sainsbury’s new supplier from November 2015. We will be engaging with our employees and other stakeholders to discuss the implications for our business and how we can best position our company to achieve long term, sustainable growth in the current competitive market place. As we move forward, exploring a number of new business opportunities, our focus continues to be on serving our customers and consumers and on our commitment to providing high quality, good value, fish and seafood.”
Steve Norton, Chief Executive of the Grimsby Fish Merchant's Association (FMA), told Fish Farming Expert: "It is bad news for Grimsby and the seafood cluster. I hope the number of job losses are minimised and jobs are available in the sector. There has been a lot of speculation about this decision to relocate the Sainsbury business. Clearly it is a commercial decision and demonstrates the very competitive environment in which we operate. I'm confident Youngs will seek new business opportunities to maintain their place in the retail sector.
"I hope all relevant organisations work together to assist both Youngs and their employees".
