February 11, 2014

 

MacKnight Food Group to expand salmon business in Florida

 

 

In order to target US retailers with packaged fresh seafood products as well as smoked, salmon processor MacKnight Food Group is to use its planned new plant in Miami, Florida.

 

The company has bought an acre and a half of land next to its existing plant in Miami to build a new plant to expand its burgeoning retail business, Jonathan Brown, the company's founder and CEO, said.

 

The plans are at permitting stage and Brown hopes the plant can be completed by September, with the total investment at US$6 million, he said.

 

Brown plans to use the plant to produce modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) trays of salmon portions and other value-added salmon products for US retail. The plan is also to produce salmon in vacuum packaging. This type of production will be in one room of the plant, with the other used for processing and packing smoked salmon for retail.

 

According to Brown, the company only does US$3-4 million in retail business, which is small, when compared to the wholesale side. The US part of MacKnight, which also has two plants in the UK, had turnover of US$29.42 million in 2013, up from US$22.82 million in 2012, said Brown.

 

By going into retail in the US in a bigger way, he sees big growth potential. "There is a US$200 million retail smoked salmon market in the US to grab some of."

 

According to him, the company will have the potential to do US$60 million of business from the new plant.

 

The company has had some retail success with its fleurettes - a party appetiser made with roasted salmon rillette mousse, wrapped with smoked salmon - which have been in Sam's Club, as well as Costco and Kroger.

 

Brown will relocate to the plant and run the retail side of the business, along with Tony Ingham, the UK-based global head of marketing for Macknight. Hamish Rose, president of Macknight in the US, will continue to run the wholesale side.

 

He said he sees possibilities for growth in MAP and other fresh seafood products in retail, as long as the logistics can be handled.

 

The UK operations of Macknight were hit hard last year by a de-listing from WM Morrison Supermarkets, which are now the subject of meetings between the supplier and retailer.

 

Brown said 2013 was a tough year, but the lost business has now been regained. As for the lost business, he claimed this has been made up elsewhere, some through the company's export business to the continent and also by building up existing UK accounts.

 

The company's UK operations reported £15.05 million (US$25 million) in 2013, up from of £13.02 million (US$21.4 million) for the previous year.