Danish fish production company Vega Salmon has chosen Handewitt, Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany as the site of its new fish processing plant.
The company will be investing EUR 12 million in the new facility, which is expected to begin operations in 2011. Germany Trade & Invest and the Business Development and Technology Transfer Corporation of Schleswig-Holstein, together with WiREG, the economic and regional development agency of Flensburg/Schleswig, supported Vega Salmon with its new investment.
Vega Salmon GmbH is the German subsidiary of the privately owned Vega Salmon Group. The Danish production company specializes in smoked fish, especially salmon, trout and halibut.
The group generates EUR 31 million in annual revenues with products primarily targeting retail markets. The new investment will receive support to the tune of nearly EUR 3 million in state and EU funding. The company is benefiting from generous incentives due to its contribution to regional economic development as well as European fisheries.
The company is headquartered in Esbjerg, Denmark and has an additional production facility in Sølvesbjerg, Sweden. A testament to Germany’s attractiveness as a business location, the new facility in Handewitt marks the company’s first investment outside of Scandinavia. The new facility is expected to create 120 new jobs.
Germany’s food and beverage industry is attractive for international companies, as it is Europe’s largest food market. With its central location, Germany is also optimally positioned to reach the markets of Eastern and Western Europe.
In 2009, revenues for the industry approached EUR 150 billion, while over EUR 39.3 billion of goods were exported. The year demonstrated a positive trend in the fish segment, demonstrated by new investments by Polish Inter Marine and Japanese Nomura Trading also investing in Germany.