"Vičiūnai Group" begins €100 million salmon processing complex construction
Vičiūnai and partners (VIP), a company of Vičiūnai Group, one of Europe's largest producers of surimi and fish products, is starting construction of a new salmon processing complex in Plungė, worth EUR 100 million. With the completion of one of the world's most modern specialized plants, VIP will steadily increase its salmon and salmonid processing volumes from 18,000 to 50,000 tones per year, placing it among the top five European producers of similar products. The expansion is expected to increase VIP's annual revenue from EUR 150 million to EUR 500 million. The factory is being built next to the existing production and warehouse complex of the Vičiūnai Group in Plungė, with an area of more than 13 hectares and a total area of more than 29,000 square meters of new buildings. The area for production alone is more than 16,000 square meters - 4.5 times more than the current production unit.
"Due to uncertainty and the difficult geopolitical situation, large-scale greenfield manufacturing investments in Lithuania have recently declined sharply, so an export-oriented project of this magnitude is of great significance for the country's economy. The plant will employ around 900 people when it reaches capacity, and more than 95% of its production will be exported to Western Europe, the US and other Western markets. Vičiūnai Group's consistent and patient expansion is paying off with growing demand and undisputed leadership in European markets, while at home we pride ourselves on creating new jobs, providing opportunities for growth and increasing our contribution to the common good in the form of taxes paid and domestic product created. When designing our new plant, we focused not only on state-of-the-art production technologies, but also on sustainability and environmental solutions. We hope that the plant will be certified according to the international BREEAM New Construction standard for sustainable buildings," said Dainius Matijošaitis, member of the Board of Vičiūnai Group, at the presentation of the new plant.
The new building will be equipped with a 1.5 MW solar power plant on the roof, eliminating the use of natural gas in the process and using all surplus energy for space and water heating. The production process will focus heavily on automation and robotization of the supply, preparation, packaging and storage processes, not only to reduce manual labor but also to maximize employee safety.
"The new production solutions will not only allow us to significantly increase production volumes, but also to expand our product range. We are responding to the trends in salmon products and consumer habits in the major Western markets, which will lead to a significant increase in the number of packaging types and methods, more fresh and frozen salmon products with spices, and new slicing methods. However, Lithuanian consumers remain cautious and conservative in their choice of high-value fish products, so no major changes are expected on the shelves of the country's supermarkets, at least in the near future. This is a bit of a shame, because the demand for salmon, which is farmed under strict rules and has a very high nutritional value, is growing steadily and rapidly in the Western world. We hope that a change of attitude in the Baltic countries will also take place in the coming years," added D.Matijošaitis.