Japanese seafood major Nissui Group has bought a plant in France to meet demand for tapas-style products.

Nissui intends to use the facility, acquired through local subsidiary Miti, at Saint-Hernin in Brittany for the manufacture of tapas, or small-dish, seafood products.

Miti, which was bought by Nissui in 2017, already produces tapas products from shrimps. It plans to expand its product line-up to include octopus, squid and sardines at the newly-acquired plant.

The facility was bought from caterer and smoked fish specialist Guyader Traiteur Frais for an undisclosed sum.

On the plan to manufacture tapas products, Nissui said in a statement: “This category is growing due to the freshness and convenience of the products, which are highly thought of in France.”

Miti’s immediate owner, Nissui arm Cité Marine, is a manufacturer and distributor of seafood, including chilled coated and frozen products. It was bought by Nissui in 2007 and then it bought Miti in 2019.

Cité Marine said it is aiming to develop tapas into the next pillar of the business with a view of selling in France and in neighbouring countries in the future.　

In May, Nissui, which also owns Gorton’s Co. in the US, Three Oceans Fish Company in the UK and Denmark-based Nordic Seafood, acquired Japanese peer Musashino, a salmon processor.

In December, Nissui bought a majority stake in Netherlands-based fish producer Maxima Seafood.

In February, Nissui announced plans to invest in expanding production capacity at two of its US and EU subsidiaries.

The group said it would invest a total of Y17m ($113,122 at the time) into Gorton’s Co. and Cité Marine.

Gorton’s, which produces ready-to-cook frozen seafood for the US market, intends to build up its line of shrimp products and needed to find a larger production site, Nissui said at the time.

The investment in Cité Marine’s Keranna Productions site in Plumelin would be used to boost “production and sales of alternative protein products”, Nissui said.

The money injected into the US and EU businesses forms a part of Nissui’s ongoing Good Foods 2030 strategy, launched in 2022, which aims to boost its international operations and turn the company into a global fried seafood leader.