Doing a few things, but doing them well

Eray Yapici, production manager and Sorgun Uluc, chief of production planning, on board the processing facility, a converted vessel anchored at Karaburun.

Agromey is among the largest producers of seabass and seabream in Turkey with an annual production capacity of 15,000 tonnes. The company, like other big producers, is integrated with its own feed production division, fish cultivation, processing, packaging and distribution.

Some years ago Agromey invested in a former ferry vessel which was converted into a packaging facility. The vessel is in Karaburun near Izmir moored off a reserve, a protected area, where the building of permanent structures is forbidden. Agriculture is small scale and the main activity is herding animals. As a result the sea around the reserve is not polluted by run-off from the land. It is in these surroundings that Agromey has one of its cage sites for on-growing seabass and seabream.

Short transport time from cages to packaging facility

The presence of the cages in the vicinity was the reason behind deciding to moor the converted ferry off the reserve as well. The proximity to the cages means that fish can be harvested and brought to the packaging facility very rapidly. This short transport time has a positive impact on the quality of the product and ultimately its shelf life, a vital parameter for the producer of any highly perishable product. The packaging facility works seven days in the week grading and packaging the fish, says Sorgun Uluc, the chief of production planning, Employees work in two shifts and get a day in the week off, which they take in turns. There is however no filleting or other more advanced processing operation on board the vessel. Those are performed at another facility in Aydin another city a couple of hours inland from Karaburun.

What gets sent to the two processing plants depends on the orders and the customers’ requirements. Orders for whole round fish are handled at the packaging vessel where the fish is graded, packaged, loaded into the truck and sent directly to the customer. Fillets or frozen products are processed at the Aydin facility. In general the ratio of whole round fish to processed fish is approximately 60:40 for both seabass and seabream. The entire production is from the company’s own cages. Agromey’s cages are located at two sites, one in Karaburun and the other in Bodrum, further to the south. There are a few differences in the two sites. The sea at the Bodrum site warms up faster after the winter, then it does in Karaburun. Although water temperature is only one factor in determining fish growth, fish at the Bodrum site tend to grow slightly faster. The weather conditions at the two sites are also different. Many companies have their operations in Bodrum so the distance between the farms is not as great as it is in Izmir. Also, in Izmir the cages are in the open sea, while in Bodrum the sites are in more sheltered bays. These factors sometimes have an impact on the water quality in Bodrum. Having cages in the open sea means they are more exposed to the elements, they are further away from the coast and they require more maintenance, all of which tends to add to the cost of production. So, there are advantages and disadvantages to both the locations. At both Agromey’s sites in Karaburun and Bodrum there are cages with seabass and others with seabream, which are harvested depending on the orders and size of the fish in the cages. The mix of seabass and seabream is not even, about 60% of the production is seabass.

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Grading 75 tonnes of fish a day

Although the Karaburun facility is essentially a converted vessel, it is capable of grading up to 75 tonnes of fish a day. This level was reached recently with the installation of new machinery that doubled the capacity. There are now two grading lines instead of one and actual production is currently 60-65 tonnes a day. But we are planning to use the entire capacity once we have a few additional workers, says Eray Yapici, the production manager. The plant at Aydin produces about 8 tonnes of fillets a day. The logistics of the production are optimised to keep the amount of time the fish spends on the road to a minimum. Because of the proximity, the Karaburun facility gets fish from the cages there, while fish from the cages in Bodrum go to the Aydin facility as it is closer than Karaburun.

To stock the cages at the start of a cycle Agromey buys the juveniles from local hatcheries. There are eight or nine hatcheries in Turkey and Agromey deals with five or six of them as a safety precaution. From the time they are introduced into the on-growing cages the fish are given feed produced at the company’s own feed mill. Agromey produces a range of feeds under its Agromarin brand, for seabass and seabream as well as for trout. The feeds are intended for different stages of fish growth from nursery to on-growing. Seabass and seabream feed is sufficient to meet the company’s own requirements with some left over to sell on the market. The trout feeds are only sold to other companies as Agromey does not farm or process trout itself.

Few products, efficiently manufactured

Agromey has focused its efforts on a few items which it then produces very efficiently. While other big producers in Turkey are investing in farming different species and in expanding their product line to include ready-meals and other products, at Agromey the emphasis has been on seabass and seabream, which are processed into a few relatively simple products – whole round, gutted descaled, or fillets. Whole round fish amounts in fact to 70% of the production. These are also available as frozen products from the Aydin facility, where they have the necessary equipment. Whole round fish can also be frozen says Mr Uluc, but we need to be informed a little in advance as whole round fish takes longer to freeze than fillets. So if a customer wants a truck of frozen whole round fish on Wednesday we would like to receive the order on Sunday. Normally we like at least 48 hours to process an order as that gives us the time to take into account all the factors that have an influence on the production. We realise, however, that it is not always possible, so we just try and do our best. As soon as the order arrives we start the production and arrange it to meet the customer’s schedule.

The crisis in Greece has proved an opportunity for the seabass and seabream industry in Turkey as customers unable to secure adequate supplies from Greece or nervous about the uncertainty associated with the Greek economy, turned to Turkish producers. According to Mr Uluc many of them were happy with the quality of the fish and the service they got from their new suppliers that they have so far continued to buy from them. Agromey, he says, has also benefited from the situation, but he is aware that it is likely to be only temporary as production in Greece will certainly pick up again.

Agromey’s fish production is shipped chiefly to Spain and Italy, markets where there is still significant consumer interest in whole fish, as well as by air freight to Dubai, the USA, and Israel. A certain quantity of fish is also sold within Turkey. Another interesting market is Russia, where approval to export seabass and seabream is pending with the Russian authorities. Customers in all the company’s markets are generally importers who sell the fish in turn to fish shops, and restaurants. Agromey has also established a subsidiary in the Netherlands to facilitate logistics and distribution in Europe.