Cell Aquaculture acquires processor in Western Australia
Cell Aquaculture on Tuesday (June 22) announced that it purchased the assets of an existing food processor and established a new facility in Osborne Park, Western Australia.
The acquisition includes the company's customer base, product range and distribution network (including supermarkets, restaurants and caterers), providing Cell Aquaculture "instant cash flow" and a foundation to expand its range of value-added products for barramundi - its staple specie - such as smoked fillets and distribution network. Cell Aquaculture declined to name the company.
While the plant also produces non-fish items, Cell Aqua will maintain its production range but focus mostly on developing the seafood products.
"This is a major step forward for Cell Aquaculture and represents the establishment of the final part of our vertically integrated ‘hatch-to-dispatch' business model," said Cell Aquaculture chairman Perry Leach.
Cell Aquaculture, which farms finfish, primarily barramundi, is also eyeing "a potentially lucrative production opportunity" in Europe, though it declined to elaborate.
The company also signed on a local award-winning chef with more than 15 years of experience in food processing and new product development to serve as a spokesperson for its value-added and smoked barramundi products, which are marketed under the Eco-Star brand.
Last April, Cell Aquaculture signed a joint venture to establish a recirculating, land-based seafood production facility in South Africa. And last March, the company harvested its first batch of barramundi at its facility in Terengganu, Malaysia.
The deals in South Africa and Malaysia, meanwhile, would significantly expand Cell Aqua's farm production. Today the group produces around 100 tonnes of barramundi domestically and twice that much in Malaysia, from where the fish is also sold to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. However, if the deals go through, it would produce another 4,000 tonnes combined in South Africa and Malaysia alone.
