LOVIE Construction has commenced work on the build of a new 12,000 sqm cold store in Peterhead as part of a £30 million project by Denholm Seafoods.
Aberdeen firm Ramsay & Chalmers is the civil and structural engineering consultants on the project, with Cumming and Co, also based in Aberdeen, leading the design.
Designed with future expansion in mind, the facility is being built adjacent to the current Denholm Seafoods processing site at Peterhead harbour, with it set to be completed by late summer.
The investment, which the firm said is ‘one of the largest ever undertaken’ by a wild-caught fish processing company in Scotland, will also see the refurbishment of its existing processing facilities.
Denholm Seafoods added that the provision of a new low pressure pump system to offload mackerel, herring, and blue whiting catches from boats on the quayside will deliver fish quality benefits, which will be further enhanced by a new non-pressure plate freezing system that freezes the end-product ‘much quicker’ than before.
The facility’s ‘intelligent’ process is designed to take about six hours from the time the raw material enters the factory through to final storage of the end frozen product. Denholm Seafoods added that the project upgrade will deliver energy savings in the region of 30 to 40%, whilst also ‘significantly’ reducing its packaging and energy costs.
Richard Duthie, MD of Denholm Seafoods, said, “We are tremendously excited by this new investment, which will deliver benefits to Scotland’s important pelagic sector, and provide us with a platform for new growth.
“With soaring energy costs and the need to increase efficiency, product quality and automation, this project will ensure we remain competitive in a global marketplace and enable us to develop markets in key areas such as the far east. It will, for example, enable us to explore new opportunities in value-added processing by providing increased flexibility in meeting customer requirements.
“Research has shown that Scottish mackerel production already has a much lower carbon footprint compared to most other types of protein production, and this new facility will enhance that green reputation even further.”
