Vladimir Ponomarenko, CEO of “Reich” and speaker at the conference “Fish in Karelia. Technologies. Processing. Waste”, told “Sfera Media” what nuances should be taken into account when opening a fish processing enterprise.
How to start a fish processing company?
When starting a fish processing business, first, you should look for a production site. You need a production site that meets the capacity of future fish production. It must comply with the permit documents and rules of establishment of such company.
It should be an area with a permitted industrial use for environmental purposes. You should take into account the type of hazard because of the regular waste, and salt and fat recovery. The permissible distance from residential buildings should also be respected.
As for the infrastructure, trucks should have an access to the building so that they can be unloaded.
Business Plan Development
The business plan development phase requires an understanding of the quantity and range of products to be produced. You should approximately calculate the target audience and the type of product that is most in demand in the Russian Federation.
Risk Analysis
The risks can be attributed to the possibility of starting production which doesn’t fall into the product range. Or there is a risk of unbalanced competition, when there is a large fish farm nearby that produces huge quantities of smoked trout, so the cost will be very small. If a small company starts to produce the same product, it will not be purchased because it will be twice as expensive.
In addition, based on the business plan, you should know where to get raw materials. If there are no reliable suppliers of raw materials who guarantee both quality and stability of supply, then the business development may not go as desired. For the processing, it does not matter whether it is a foreign or domestic supply. The market is open, and you can make products both from Turkish trout and Far Eastern salmon.
Fish Processing Technology
Fish Salting
There are 2 types of chilled fish: gutted and ungutted. If the fish is ungutted, it needs to be gutted first, and then it is processed and salted. If the fish is frozen, it needs to be defrosted before it can be processed and salted. After the salting, the product must be washed, excess salt must be removed, and after that the products can be processed, canned fish can be made, the fish can be sold rizzered or to be smoked.
Drying, Smoking and Curing
The salting method used for smoking is a little different from the one used for making canned fish. During smoking and curing, the moisture is removed, so the saltiness increases, and less salt is added for smoking. In 2-7 hours, the smoked products are ready, either hot or cold smoked. For the production of dry-cured fish, the time can be up to 6 days, depending on the type of product. If the snacks are cured for 4-6 hours, then it will take longer to cure the large parts of fish. After smoking, the product is cooled. This is done either in the same thermal chambers, for example, “Reich”, or in some refrigerators. There are several options. After cooling, the products are sent for packaging.
Profit from Fish Processing Business
Profit depends on the raw materials that the company uses. The highest profitability, of course, is if the company uses its own raw materials. If you do not have your own raw materials, much will depend on the catch and the current market conditions. Therefore, processors who do not have their own raw materials have a very high volatility. And there is much less volatility for producers who have their own raw materials.
Examples and Cases
The most striking example is the company “Kala-Rante”, which from a fish producer in several years became one of the largest sellers of smoked processed fish. Now they have more smoking and curing chambers than any other trout producer in the Russian Federation.
How to start a fish processing company?
When starting a fish processing business, first, you should look for a production site. You need a production site that meets the capacity of future fish production. It must comply with the permit documents and rules of establishment of such company.
It should be an area with a permitted industrial use for environmental purposes. You should take into account the type of hazard because of the regular waste, and salt and fat recovery. The permissible distance from residential buildings should also be respected.
As for the infrastructure, trucks should have an access to the building so that they can be unloaded.
Business Plan Development
The business plan development phase requires an understanding of the quantity and range of products to be produced. You should approximately calculate the target audience and the type of product that is most in demand in the Russian Federation.
Risk Analysis
The risks can be attributed to the possibility of starting production which doesn’t fall into the product range. Or there is a risk of unbalanced competition, when there is a large fish farm nearby that produces huge quantities of smoked trout, so the cost will be very small. If a small company starts to produce the same product, it will not be purchased because it will be twice as expensive.
In addition, based on the business plan, you should know where to get raw materials. If there are no reliable suppliers of raw materials who guarantee both quality and stability of supply, then the business development may not go as desired. For the processing, it does not matter whether it is a foreign or domestic supply. The market is open, and you can make products both from Turkish trout and Far Eastern salmon.
Fish Processing Technology
Fish Salting
There are 2 types of chilled fish: gutted and ungutted. If the fish is ungutted, it needs to be gutted first, and then it is processed and salted. If the fish is frozen, it needs to be defrosted before it can be processed and salted. After the salting, the product must be washed, excess salt must be removed, and after that the products can be processed, canned fish can be made, the fish can be sold rizzered or to be smoked.
Drying, Smoking and Curing
The salting method used for smoking is a little different from the one used for making canned fish. During smoking and curing, the moisture is removed, so the saltiness increases, and less salt is added for smoking. In 2-7 hours, the smoked products are ready, either hot or cold smoked. For the production of dry-cured fish, the time can be up to 6 days, depending on the type of product. If the snacks are cured for 4-6 hours, then it will take longer to cure the large parts of fish. After smoking, the product is cooled. This is done either in the same thermal chambers, for example, “Reich”, or in some refrigerators. There are several options. After cooling, the products are sent for packaging.
Production of Minced Meat and Fillets
After cutting, some amount of fish “meat” remains on the bones. These trimmings can be made into minced meat using separators. This minced meat can then be sold separately, or it can be used for the production of meatballs, dumplings or snacks for rolling into sheets, drying, curing, cutting or selling as fish sticks.
Deep Processing of Fish: Which Technology to Choose
Smoking or curing is a production with the highest added value. Canned fish can also have the highest added value, but in this segment there is a high enough competition, because canned fish is made by a large number of companies, so the question of high added value is quite complicated. It is much easier to get expensive products from cheap raw materials in smoking.
Equipment
For fish processing you need a system for automatic evisceration, cutting and weighing, injectors, various baths, tables, knives and other auxiliary equipment. You also need smoking chambers, curing chambers, slicing and packing equipment.
Purchase of Fish for Processing
When choosing raw materials, it is necessary to understand for which product it is purchased, and what the final product is. If the planned product is a large fillet, then you need to buy large fish, and there aren’t many producers of large fish. If you are going to work with a carcass, there are many more such producers. If the company will produce canned trout in oil, you can buy any raw material, regardless of its appearance. You can buy the cheapest fish and just chop it, because the end consumer will never know what kind of fish it is made from. However, if you want to produce an expensive fillet or balyk, then you need premium fish initially.
Where to sell your products?
The outlets are your own retail network, or supermarkets, the leaders of our networks.
Profit from Fish Processing Business
Profit depends on the raw materials that the company uses. The highest profitability, of course, is if the company uses its own raw materials. If you do not have your own raw materials, much will depend on the catch and the current market conditions. Therefore, processors who do not have their own raw materials have a very high volatility. And there is much less volatility for producers who have their own raw materials.
Examples and Cases
The most striking example is the company “Kala-Rante”, which from a fish producer in several years became one of the largest sellers of smoked processed fish. Now they have more smoking and curing chambers than any other trout producer in the Russian Federation.
Summary
At the moment, with the current production trends, the deep processing of fish is a very promising business in general. Based on our experience, three years ago we had less than 30% of the volume of fish rooms. Last year, they were 50%.
The market now consumes much more fish than before. People understand that fish is much healthier than sausage. It is cheaper, more natural and healthier as a whole. Based on the current market conditions in Russia, fish consumption will continue to grow for at least 2-3 years. It is possible that this trend will become permanent.
For example, there is a stable trend in the Arab Emirates, where fish processing takes up much larger volumes than meat processing, and it is constantly growing.
Vladimir Ponomarenko, “Reich”
Источник: sfera.fm