ValuePump™, the groundbreaking multi-functional innovation from Skaginn 3X, has enabled Akraborg to optimize the value of fish livers, one of the whitefish canning company’s key raw materials, sourced from across Iceland’s world-class fisheries. The introduction of this new technology has also led its production line on to achieve heightened levels of cost-efficiency.
Specializing in canned cod products, as well as an expanding portfolio of other increasingly popular items like cod liver paté and hot smoked capelin, Akraborg’s factory in Akranes has been supplying high-quality seafoods to consumer markets throughout the world for more than 30 years. The company cites the introduction of new solutions with the capacity to improve end products as well as delivering greater operational efficiencies as being central to its ongoing success.
Meanwhile, growing public awareness of fish livers as a valuable source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids has led to steady demand for these canned products in recent years. Akraborg’s investment in this new processing technology was in direct response to this opportunity, and is also aligned with the company’s mantra to expand its operations in the most responsible ways possible.
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Launched by Skaginn 3X in 2019, the ValuePump™ is designed to expedite the transit of fisheries raw materials from one stage of the processing chain to another, while also conducting other essential procedures along the way. Today, it’s being used more widely across the seafood spectrum — on land and at sea, handling raw material sizes from a just few grams up to 10 kg.
The main functions of the ValuePump™ include shortening the bleeding process, and speeding up chilling, as well as washing, disinfecting, freezing and boiling raw materials. At the same time as being bled and chilled, raw materials can be thoroughly cleaned. These tasks are fulfilled by the liquids that are running through the pump along with the products in transit. And by conducting these processes in quicker time, before rigor mortis sets in, flesh integrity is consistently better maintained, resulting in superior quality end products with a higher market value.
At Akraborg’s plant, an 8-inch-diameter ValuePump™ has been incorporated into the fish liver product line, specifically to wash the livers and quickly transport them for further processing. This solution includes the advanced filtering system, FiltreX.
Also developed by Skaginn 3X, FiltreX enables the processing company to reuse its water while staying within recommended hygiene standards. Filtering and cleaning the water before discarding, it also collects the resultant residues for further processing. Moreover, the entire process takes place in an enclosed system, mitigating the need for unnecessary handling.
“We are really pleased with the introduction of this system. Not only has the ValuePump™ allowed us to realize new levels of quality which in turn further defines our products in the marketplace, it is also helping us realize some of our company-wide sustainability ambitions. In combination with FiltreX, it has led to some significant efficiency and energy improvements. It’s also reducing our water use considerably and cleaning it a lot better than before,” Akraborg’s factory manager, Einar Viglundsson, explains.
Beyond its use in the whitefish sector, Skaginn 3X anticipates that there’s considerable scope for the successful utilization of its ValuePump™ in other seafood supply chains. As well as offering opportunities in the shrimp sector, particularly through its ability to both boil and freeze raw materials in transit through processing plants, the technology also presents the first means to add value to some of the most delicate aquatic species commercially available. In this regard, the market potential for blue whiting fillets is among the potential revenue streams now being explored.
The overriding belief is that this super-fast, value-adding advancement can help deliver the sort of quality levels, flexibility and cost-efficiencies that will enhance almost any seafood value chain.
