Lerøy Seafood’s Madrid factory set to develop new product ranges

Lerøy Seafood has said its latest factory near Madrid will provide a platform for the launch of several new products to strengthen its position in Spain and Portugal.

Just opened, at 9,000 square metres and employing 160 people the new facility, which opened recently, is Lerøy’s largest so far in the region.

The company, which is also a co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms, said it has been strategically designed to both increase production capacity for current products and extend the group’s product range.

Antonio Díez, the Managing Director of Lerøy Processing Spain, said: “Processing fresh and frozen fish, smoking salmon and producing ready meals are some of the innovations that will create new business opportunities.

“This will undoubtedly reinforce the company’s leading position in the seafood market in Spain and the whole Iberian Peninsula.”

Lerøy already has factories in Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Las Palmas in Spain, along with a site in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. These will now all be upgraded so they can make new products.

“We can create new products in response to demand from our customers, in order to extend our range and to enter new segments,” he added.

The new ranges include sushi, noodles, cod and salmon burgers, poke bowls and fish-based ready meals along with more traditional smoked salmon, frozen salmon and fresh salmon products in consumer packaging.

Lerøy Processing Spain currently employs around 350 people, but Antonio Diez believes that number will rise in the future.

The new Madrid factory has three zones: one for ready meals such as sushi and other dishes; one for processing fresh and frozen fish along with one for smoking fish.

It also has a biological treatment plant designed to reduce its environmental impact.