How Bidfood doubled efficiency to keep pace with rising salmon demand

Bidfood Kralupy has been processing fresh fish, meat, game, and frozen products since 2002, supplying customers across the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary under its own brands, including Gourmet, Petron, and Nowaco. As Czech consumers developed a growing appetite for salmon, Bidfood needed a way to keep pace with demand without compromising the quality its customers had come to expect. Once again, they turned to JBT Marel.

Fresh fish is now one of four divisions at Bidfood's Kralupy site, alongside meat, game, and frozen production, and it has grown to match meat and frozen in volume. Within the fresh fish division, retail accounts for 70% of production, with the remaining 30% going to gastronomy customers such as restaurants and school canteens — a segment where Bidfood counts itself among the Czech Republic's leading suppliers, with fresh fish reaching Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania as well.

Building on a trusted partnership

Bidfood didn't need to run a competitive search. They had already installed a CT2630 filleting line and I-Cut portioner from JBT Marel and were satisfied with the results. "Thanks to our long-term cooperation with JBT Marel, it was a clear choice for us to choose a filleting line from this company," Mr. Rudolf said. "We had already purchased a previous line from this company in the past, with which we were very satisfied."

After several meetings and a visit to JBT Marel's factory in Denmark, Bidfood settled on the MS 2730S filleting line, recommended to meet their production capacity requirements, with the full line engineered to fit their existing production premises.

Up and running in a week

Installation and commissioning took just one week. A JBT Marel technician was on site to train operators directly on the new equipment. Over the following month, Bidfood's team worked with JBT Marel to fine-tune the line's filleting and trimming programs to their exact specifications while staff completed their training.

The shift from the old, largely manual line to the fully automatic MS 2730S was significant. "The filleting line from JBT Marel, from my point of view, brought us positive results and an improvement in work for the operation of the filleting line itself.

Half the people, twice the output

The numbers speak for themselves. The new line runs with 12 workers across a 12-hour shift, processing 25 tons of fish a day. The previous line needed roughly double the staff working roughly double the hours to keep up. Alongside the new filleting line, Bidfood also added a deheader - among the first installed in Central Europe — plus an I-Cut portioner used for cutting the 250–300g portions that make up 70% of the fresh fish division's volume, along with whole and half fillets.

"We managed to improve the bill of materials and the yield of salmon fillets," said Vladislav Hráský. "Thanks to the new filleting line, we managed to increase production capacity."

A relationship built to last

Bidfood's relationship with JBT Marel now extends beyond the filleting line. The I-cut 11 is in use across both the fresh fish and meat divisions, and the company continues to rely on JBT Marel for new equipment as its production needs to evolve.

Asked whether they'd recommend JBT Marel to other processors; the answer was straightforward. "I would recommend the equipment from JBT Marel to other fish processors as well," said Vladislav Hráský. "Everything is solved according to the wishes and needs of the given customer."

For Rudolf, the investment reflects a wider trend he sees continuing across the Czech market. "We are following the growing trend regarding the consumption of fresh salmon in the Czech Republic," he said — and with automation now built into the line, Bidfood is positioned to keep up with it.

About Bidfood Kralupy

Founded in 2002 and based in Kralupy, near Prague, Bidfood Kralupy processes fresh fish, meat, game, and frozen products across four production divisions. The company supplies retail and gastronomy customers throughout the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, with its fresh fish reaching Romania as well, under its own brands, including Gourmet, Petron, and Nowaco.

Company website: bidfood.cz