Sustainable seafood is the way of the future and Albion Sea-foods is gearing up for the run, breaking ground on a state-of-the-art plant in Richmond that will increase efficiency and output.
"We're intending to grow; that's why we're looking for more space," Albion president John Milobar said.
Much of that growth is expected to come from sustain-able seafood.
Albion is already a leader in sustainable seafood and the company wants to accelerate its plans to acquire more sustain-able supply, Milobar said.
"Sustainable seafood in our minds is the future and there's only a few people that can handle that."
Many retailers are now saying that by 2015 to 2016, they will only handle sustainable sea-food, he said.
Improved efficiency will also help the bottom line.
The company has been in the same location - on Great Northern Way near Clark Drive - for 25 years. That site had been added to as needed, in a haphazard way.
Since the lease was running out at the end of the year, Albion decided to build its own state-of-the-art seafood processing and distribution facility.
The new plant will have an area for the preparation of value-added foods, such as seafood-stuffed mushroom caps and stuffed salmon filets, Milobar said.
Another area will cook prawns and hand-peel them for the ready-to-eat market.
Other areas will focus on the more traditional work such as fileting fish and cutting them to size on demand. Restaurants, for example, may serve six-ounce filets of salmon, so Albion will supply those.
The total space will be more than 65,000 square feet, 20,000 of which will be freezers. By starting from scratch, the company can ensure the plant is laid out to maximize efficiency.
Hungerford Properties, a Vancouver-based diversified real estate company, is over-seeing the building of the plant and worked with contractors, along with Albion, to stream-line it. So while a number of different items are being produced - some frozen, some fresh and some even cooked - "the idea is, it doesn't have to travel as far, it doesn't have to be handled as much [and] its temperature is controlled very precisely," Hungerford partner Michael Hungerford said.
"So it really creates a higher quality standard. There's less risk of spoilage or waste," he said.
"Customers are going to benefit from a better product and their staff are going to have a better working environment."
Richmond was a good choice for the plant because of its proximity to the airport, where a lot of Albion's supply arrives. It's also close to cold storage facilities, which the company needs from time to time for its frozen stock.
As well, the fishing boats are nearby, with the Steveston area of Richmond being one of the largest commercial fishing ports in British Columbia.
The city understands the industry, Milobar said. "Richmond is the fishing village of the Lower Mainland for a reason."
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie welcomes the new plant, calling it a positive addition to the city.
"The fishing industry has always been a very big part of our economy and our culture," Brodie said. "It's very much part of our tradition."
And Albion has a reputation for sustainable practices in terms of the fish it processes and how it processes them, he said.
"The public expects sustain-able approaches being taken by the food processors they patronize and the approach [Albion] is taking is going to help to ensure their success for many years."
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