Cooke buys Skretting’s UK feed plant

CANADIAN owned salmon farmer Cooke has bought Skretting’s Scottish feed mill in Invergordon, which ceased production in April this year.

New Brunswick based Cooke announced today the establishment of Northeast Nutrition Scotland at the Easter Ross site.
Skretting, owned by Nutreco, said last year that the decision to close its UK operation was due to an oversupply in the salmon feed market.

The move followed the construction by salmon farmer Mowi of its Kyleakin, Skye, feed factory, which has capacity for 170,000 tonnes of fish feed.

The Mowi plant, estimated to cost more than £125 million, became operational in the summer and will supply feed to Mowi farms in Scotland, Ireland and the Faroes, with the potential for sales to other companies.

Northeast Nutrition Scotland will manufacture fish feed for Cooke Aquaculture Scotland, which farms in Shetland and Orkney.

‘We are excited to include domestic feed manufacturing in Scotland, adding to the vertical integration of our operations and further enhancing the full traceability of our fish,’ said Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke.

Cooke plans to work with former Skretting employees who were affected by the closure, to resume operations at the mill.

‘We are thrilled to be in a position to offer new opportunities to those employees and have an engaged and experienced team in place from day one,’ said Chris Bryden, mill manager.

‘As a rural coastal community, Invergordon has a population of approximately 4,000 residents. Joining the Cooke family of companies provides us with the opportunity to keep Scottish jobs and be an important part of a globally respected growing seafood leader.’

Skretting produced 100,000 tonnes of feed in the United Kingdom in 2017, mostly Atlantic salmon and trout feed.