Japanese seafood processing giant Nissui has announced plans to invest in expanding production capacity at two of its US and EU subsidiaries.
The group will invest a total of Y17m ($113,122) into the Massachusetts-based Gorton's Co. and Cité Marine, in Kervignac, France, a statement indicates.
Just Food has asked Nissui to confirm how much money is being invested at the individual US and French sites.
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 in order to do so, Nissui said.
The company added that "current production capacity centered on the head office factory has reached its limit".
It has chosen a new site in Indiana, with operations expected to commence in the second half of 2025.
As well as boosting production capacity at Gorton's, Nissui said it planned to "improve logistics efficiency for raw material procurement and product sales, [and] increase production of value-added products."
The business, which was acquired by Nissui in 2001, produces a range of frozen seafood products such as fish sticks, popcorn shrimp, grilled fish fillets, crab cakes, air fried shrimp and breaded clams.
Cité Marine makes a range of chilled and frozen seafood products, ready-to-cook vegetarian meals and prepared vegetables. It holds a major share in the chilled fried white fish market in France, according to Nissui.
The latest investment will be used to boost "production and sales of alternative protein products", at its Cité Marine's Keranna Productions site in Plumelin, the company said.
The Keranna operation processes a range of frozen and chilled fried white fish and alternative-protein lines. The investment is expected to be used to expand production capacity by 2025.
"At the same time, we will improve delivery efficiency, optimize production items with existing factories, and automate packaging equipment," Nissui said.
Cité Marine was bought by Nissui in 2007. Since then, the group has built further factories in Kervignac. In 2015, it purchased local peer Cap Océan, breadcrumb-coated fish supplier Halieutis Fish & Co. in 2017 and Pays-de-la-Loire-based Miti in 2019.
The group has also "acquired and invested" in the Nantes region.
The money injection into the US and EU locations forms a part of Nissui's ongoing Good Foods 2030 strategy, launched in 2022, which aims to boost its global expansion operations and turn the company into a global fried seafood leader.
News of the investment comes a week after the release of the company's results for the third quarter ended December 2023.
During the period, Nissui booked a net sales increase of 7.5% year-on-year, at Y625.5m. It delivered operating profits of Y26.3m, an 11.3% hike on the same period in 2022.
