Wild
fresh-frozen
at sea
We’re committed to supplying fish as nature intended – with nothing taken, and nothing added.
That’s why we fillet and freeze our fish at sea, hours after it’s been caught. It’s the best way to preserve the freshness and natural quality of our oceans.
Fresh freezing at sea locks in the high-protein cholesterol-fighting effects of fish, including omega-3 acids, plus vitamins A, B12 and D.
But fresh-freezing doesn’t just provide customers with a healthier option, it also provides the freshest possible texture and taste. In fact, fresh frozen fish at sea is the closest thing you can get to catching it yourself.
Fresh-frozen fillets can be stored for up to 2 years, with no compromise on quality.
-
Production
All our vessels operate a small filleting factory.
Once the fish is caught and brought into the storage room, it is processed by machines and the fishermen on board. After just a few meters, we produce, pack, and freeze our fillets – all within a few hours after catch.
That’s the best way to produce the finest fillets. We call it Wild Fresh-frozen at Sea.
-
Production
This is how our wild fresh-frozen at sea fillets, loins and portions are produced.
Store fresh
After catching the fish, it is brought on to the vessel, it is stored for a short period of time before going into the production area.
-
Production
This is how our wild fresh-frozen at sea fillets, loins and portions are produced.
The fish is headed and gutted
The head is cut off and the guts are removed.Fillet the fish
The fish is filleted in a Baader machine. When they shall be boneless, the bones are also removed. And if the product shall be skinless, the skin is removed right after in a skinning machine.
-
Production
This is how our wild fresh-frozen at sea fillets, loins and portions are produced.
Control and cutting
The fillets are controlled and defects and nematodes are removed. If we are producing loins and fillet portions, the cutting takes place here.
-
Production
Producing Interleaved Frozen Fillet
Products Packing interleaved frozen fillets
When the product is interleaved frozen fillets, loins or fillet portions, the seaman lays the fillets in layers in the box with plastic sheets in between to secure that the customer can easily separate them. When all the fillets have been packed, the box is closed and labelled with all relevant information, including the number of the seaman who packed the fillets.
-
Production
Producing Interleaved Frozen Fillet
Products Freezing
The box with the packed fillets is put into the plate freezer, where they are deep frozen to below minus 20°C, which takes about 2 ½ hour.
-
Production
Producing Interleaved Frozen Fillet Products
Boxing the interleaved blocks
The interleaved blocks are packed in a master carton and the carton is closed and labelled with all relevant information about content and for tracability.
-
Production
Producing Interleaved Frozen Fillet
Products Storage
The last step on the vessel is to bring the boxes to the coldstorage on the vessel, where they are kept at below minus 25°C until the vessel discharges its production.
-
Production
Producing individually quick frozen fillets
Freezing individual quick frozen fillets
One of our vessels has an IQF tunnel, where fillets are frozen. The fillets are laid on the conveyor belt, which brings them into the freezing tunnel, where they move for less than two hours until deep frozen at below minus 20°C.
-
Production
Producing individually quick frozen fillets
Glazing and packing
When they come out of the IQF tunnel, they are put for short time in water to give them protective glazing. This is followed by packing them into the master carton, which when full, is closed and labelled with with all relevant information about content and for tracability.
-
Production
Producing individually quick frozen fillets
Storage
The last step on the vessel is to bring the boxes to the coldstorage on the vessel, where they are kept at below minus 25°C until the vessel discharges its production.
Quality
As a consumer, you want to enjoy what you eat. And for that, you need good raw material for your cooking.
There are quality standards for all aspects of how the final product shall be, and during production, we are constantly monitoring the quality of the fillets against these standards and documenting the findings. Fish is a wild, natural products, and therefore, there will always be some variance from one fillet to another.
Great demands are put on every producer to secure that the food is safe and that various standards for demands put on food are met. Consumers seldom think about this, but we as a producer and others involved in the chain until consumers receive the fillets are constantly meeting them.
Food safety is getting more and more important, every vessel has a control system in place to secure this. It is called HACCP.
Annual controls for every vessel are in place and products are checked for microbiological and other important values.
Regular controls take place after landing to compare results from the what is controlled on board the vessel against our quality standards.
CONSUMER TESTINGConsumer ratings for our wild Fresh-frozen at sea Fillets
Our Wild Fresh-frozen at Sea loins received an outstanding consumer rating, compared to other fresh and frozen fillets.
We wanted to know what consumers thought about our Wild Fresh-Frozen at Sea fillets. We commissioned Wirral Sensory Services, a well-known UK research institute, to conduct an independent consumer survey, comparing our products with similar products from different fisheries and suppliers. Our Atlantic cod loins were rated against fresh-line caught, land frozen and twice-frozen Atlantic cod loins.
The research agency surveyed primary household and health-conscious shoppers, aged 35-45, both male and female. 145 consumers took part in the survey.
All products were unbranded, and offered in a random order. Participants did not know which product they were offered. Participants were asked to score each product on an 11-point hedonic scale, as well as noting down specific likes and dislikes. In addition, participants scored each product on a 5-point diagnostic scale.
The results were clear. Our Atlantic cod loins were rated best overall. Even better, they received the highest rating for flavour and cooked appearance.
Team you can Count on
Our crew make sure your fish is perfectly prepared.
Most of our vessel are staffed by between 17 and 38 crew members, but a few have up to 120 crew members, who are responsible for fishing, processing and packing the catch. Each trip can take between one to three months, often in challenging conditions.
Every fishing vessel in our fleet is vital because each is an independent floating factory. It is also becoming increasingly important for consumers to know where their food comes from; indeed, legislation in many countries demands information about where the fish was caught and by whom.