More muscle in mussel marketing

BEN CURRAN/Marlborough Express

MUSSEL MAN: Keith Harrison is the new CEO of Wakatu Seafood Group. The position was created by a restructuring of Wakatu Incorporation's seafood businesses in October last year.

Relevant offers

In the first of a five-part series in the lead-up to the Havelock Mussel Festival, reporter Blair Ensor samples the action in the mussel industry.

Health supplements produced from mussels could be explored by Aotearoa Seafoods as the Marlborough-based company ushers in a new era.

New Wakatu Seafood Group chief executive Keith Harrison wants to investigate ways to make the shellfish more profitable.

Rather than adding ingredients to the product, he wants to look at parts of the mussel which the company has not used before.

This could include attempts to extract value from mussel shells and a foray into nutraceuticals pharmaceuticals and petraceuticals, he says.

The 48-year-old took the reins on January 11, after 28 years working in industries which included viticulture, confectionary and most recently a 10-year stint in the dairy industry.

"I dropped money to come here. It's all about the challenges.

"With aquaculture this is the [industry] that has the most growth opportunity.

"This is green fields, it's fantastic."

His appointment comes on the back of a major restructuring of Wakatu Incorporation's seafood businesses in October last year.

Wakatu chief executive officer Keith Palmer said the restructuring was part of a 10-year plan to broaden the company's focus from mussels to include other species, such as cod, hapuka, kingfish and butterfish.

Wakatu Incorporation is a private company, owned by Maori and based in Nelson.

The company owns Aotearoa Seafoods, the country's fourth largest producer of Greenshell mussels, based in Blenheim.

It is developing the proposed Horoirangi Centre for Seafood and Aquaculture Innovation in Nelson.

The multi-million-dollar institute will include laboratories, commercial hatcheries, nurseries, aquatic land-based research ponds and education facilities.

Wakatu also manages Port Nicholson Fisheries, an independent processor of crayfish based in the North Island, of which it owns two-thirds with Parinihi Ki Waitotara. Mr Harrison is charged with the responsibility of strategy and direction for the seafood-based operations, which oversees 420 staff.

He has signalled a return to basics for the company to ensure it remains sustainable in a tough economic climate.

"We are not in the business of competing with the big boys on the international stage."

A strategic shift will include a move to boutique international markets where volumes are smaller, but the margins are higher.

"It's about finding niche markets within bigger markets."

With all the changes, Mr Harrison says he can "guarantee" operations in Blenheim will not be downsized; upsizing is a possibility. Employees will also be made more aware of their roles and the company's strategy so that the business is fully aligned.

- The Marlborough Express

Newest First

Oldest First