Bristol Seafood announced on January 10 that it has aligned with Bristol Bay Alaska Seafoods, owner the Blue North Alaska Cod harvester, and also completed a significant investment in the filleting capabilities of its Portland, Maine plant. It has also installed a Marel FleXicut and sorting system to its fillet line to enhance customization and consistent quality production at greater volumes.
The company is the largest importer/processor of Norwegian line-caught haddock in the United States, and also packs Alaska cod, among other items. Its Alaska cod assortment include refreshed and frozen fillets, loins and portions, plus retail-ready items like bagged frozen portions and the ready-to-cook My Fish Dish brand of value-added offerings.
“We are very happy to become the lead supplier of Alaska cod to Bristol Seafood,” said Mike Burns, chairman and co-founder of Blue North. “It’s a huge credit to the forward-thinking team at Bristol to see the value of using Alaska cod in their growing business. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association.”
“As we continue to grow and our needs evolve, Marel’s FleXicut will be a crucial tool to do the excellent work our customers expect from us,” stated Michael Lodato, Bristol’s vice president of sales. “In particular, with foodservice customers increasingly seeking customized loin and portion options, and our retail customers seeing growth in demand for US-produced, precisely portioned ready-to-cook items, this new production line and sourcing partnership will help us answer the call.”
“Our aim is to help our customers improve in a market which is changing at a faster pace than ever,” commented Magnus Olason, Marel’s sales business manager. “The addition of the FleXicut waterjet line to Bristol Seafood’s existing Marel equipment, which include lines for portioning, batching, grading, skinning, and weighing, will allow the company to continuously improve the quality of its product and offerings and help its team members make a bigger impact than they otherwise could.”