We’ve heard it many times: Norway’s self-sufficiency rate is worryingly low. According to official estimates, we can only produce 35 per cent of the food we eat. But is that the whole picture?
The seafood we produce in Norway can in fact cover up to 60 per cent of the population’s daily energy requirements. If we add this to the mix, Norway’s food preparedness suddenly looks a whole lot better.
Thousands of people work every day along our elongated coastline to harvest the sea’s resources. Lerøy Seafood is engaged in both wild catch and farming activities from north to south – making it a company that not only puts food on the table but also creates jobs and vibrant local communities.
Melbu in Vesterålen is home to one of Lerøy’s oldest factories, built in the 1940s. The history of the building is tangible, but what happens inside is anything but old-fashioned. The factory supplies Norway and the world with top-quality whitefish products.
Fresh and frozen fish can be equally good. Which is fortunate for Norway’s food preparedness.
“Over 50 per cent of our fish is actually frozen when it arrives,” says Nan Iren Revheim Erdal, factory manager in Melbu.
The fish is gutted and frozen on board the fishing vessels before it comes ashore.
“Because it happens so quickly, both nutrition and quality are locked in, enabling us to produce first-class seafood all year round – not just in season.”
This is extremely important for Norway’s self-sufficiency rate. It means we always have whitefish available, as well as farmed salmon and trout.
We only need to look back at our own past. Because we can in fact eat what we’ve always eaten – seafood. So every time you choose fish for dinner, you’re actually supporting Norway’s food preparedness.
For Lerøy, it’s about more than just producing seafood. It’s about creating value and jobs all the way along the coast.
• Lerøy Seafood Group can trace its history back to the end of the 19th century, when fisherman-farmer Ole Mikkel Lerøen rowed to the Bergen fish market to sell live fish.
• Today Lerøy Seafood Group ASA is a listed global seafood corporation with its head office in Bergen. The Group’s approx. 6000 employees process between 350,000 and 400,000 tonnes of seafood every year via the value chain, corresponding to around five million meals every day.
• The Group has a vertically integrated value chain for red fish and whitefish, as well as significant activities using third-party products. The aquaculture business also has fully integrated value chains in North, Central and West Norway. This means the Group handles everything from fishing to processing and distribution.
• Lerøy Aurora, Lerøy Midt and Lerøy Sjøtroll provide employment along the coast of Norway and are a driving force for biological and technological progress within sustainable production of salmon and trout. Following an acquisition in 2016, Lerøy is the leading player in fishing and processing of whitefish in Norway.
• The main office is located in Bergen, and Lerøy operates fish farms along the entire coast of Norway. The Group has production and packaging plants in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Turkey and the UK (Shetland). There are also sales offices in the USA, Japan and China.
• Every day, Lerøy supplies thousands of different seafood products to shops, restaurants, canteens and hotels, equivalent to 1.75 billion meals a year.
“The fact that we catch, produce, process and pack the fish you find in shops here in Norway means we create significant local spin-off effects. Lerøy sells so much seafood that everyone in Norway could eat a meal including seafood from us 365 days a year,” explains Nan Iren.
“Of course, making this happen relies on our people, suppliers and services offered out in the market.”
From Melbu, Nan Iren and her team have seen how their work has a positive impact on the local community. They have also been through big changes in recent years, both in terms of technology and the way they run the business.
“We work on continuous improvement in all areas.”
“For example, we managed to increase our fillet production capacity by 20 per cent simply by changing how we work.”
“In addition, new technology gives us the opportunity to understand our processes even better, which means we are now able to handle the fish we receive more efficiently.”
Some of the fish from Melbu is shipped to the Group’s Sjømathuset facility in Oslo, its last stop before reaching the dinner table. The facility produces sushi, packs products for sale in Norwegian grocery shops and supplies fresh seafood to fish counters.
“Some of the whitefish here comes from Nan Iren and the dedicated team in Melbu. We also receive salmon and trout from Lerøy’s fish farms all along Norway’s coast,” says Nikolai Thorstensen, general manager at Sjømathuset.
André Misund, Lerøy’s technical director and chef, has also paid a visit to Sjømathuset. He is passionate about everything in the sea. Almost all his free time is devoted to the sea, whether fishing or diving. And he brings this passion to his work at Lerøy.
“For me and all the team, the quality of the food is paramount. We’re committed to using the whole fish and creating healthy and sustainable meals. Seafood is a fantastic resource that I think we will eat more of in the future.”
“If we’re to supply a growing world population with protein-rich food, we have to exploit fish as a sustainable food source.”
Both André and Nikolai agree that seafood is more than just a meal. It’s an investment in Norwegian food preparedness, in coastal communities and in a sustainable future.
“We’re extremely fortunate to be able to work in an industry like this with fish delivered daily. We have the opportunity to produce and distribute what we produce across Norway,” Nikolai says.
This means that Norwegian seafood is more than a meal: you’re supporting communities along our coastline, investing in preparedness and getting fantastic food into the bargain.
