Mowi has announced today that the construction work for its new processing plant at Hitra, in Norway Region Mid, is going to start in April. The state-of-the-art processing plant will have a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes and will replace Mowi’s current factory at Ulvan. The company’s hopes are high for the benefits it will bring.

“The new factory will produce high-quality seafood in a much more efficient way than we do today. The building design is very modern and will create a more welcoming environment for our staff whilst optimising health and safety features”, has stated Olaf Skjærvik, director of Mowi Mid Region. “This will be a state-of-the-art factory built for the future”, he said. Skjærvik also highlighted the thorough work of the project team and was pleased to be able to start construction.

Looking at the long-term

The new Mowi processing plant at Hitra will only receive fish from sea harvest vessels, as they already do in the South Region in Norway, fully based on this technology. The company is now using four sea harvest vessels to supply its processing plants. Building on this experience, in a first stage, Mowi intends to increase the capacity of these vessels and, in the long-term, will substitute well boat transport with sea harvest vessels which represent an improvement in fish welfare.

Established in 1964, Mowi ASA is one of the largest seafood companies in the world and the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon. As the company has grown, it has maintained its leading position at the forefront of the aquaculture industry and boasts of being “the only salmon producer with full internal control of its own genetics, feed, farming operations, harvesting, processing, logistics, sales and marketing”. Even 2021 was a record year for them, despite pandemic times. Mowi employs 12.000 people and is represented in 25 countries.