Sustainable growth, happy employees, and a future-ready partnership

Located in Malveira in Western Portugal, Superfish is built on a belief that consumers deserve the best product possible. This philosophy has ensured the family business has had nearly twenty years of codfish processing success in national, European, and international markets.

Codfish is an institution in Portugal. The salted, dry-cured codfish found on Portuguese tables for generations has long been central to Superfish’s product line. However, Superfish CEO António Vale knows that markets change, and to remain successful, the company needed to change as well. “In recent years we have been evolving towards other types of products,” said António. “Consumers have preferred to make their purchases in smaller quantity units, and the younger generations favoring frozen, soaked codfish.” As a lower cost product to produce, “It is more financially viable for the customer,” said António.

In 2020, Superfish outgrew its Malveria facilities and purchased a second processing location, Gelpinhos, helping expand lines and improve flexibility to meet market growth and the consumer’s changing buying habits.

“Before we invested in equipment, the entire factory was manual,” said Tiago Feliciano, General Director, Superfish. Manual whitefish processing relies on skilled workers doing repetitive, physically demanding tasks for hours at a time, which can lead to injuries. With skilled labor a growing industry challenge, manual production lines have become inefficient for today’s market. Fluctuating end product quality, increased risk of contamination, and throughput limits put pressure on fish processors to find another way that allows them to grow. “In order to stay in the market and be competitive and efficient, we needed to find a solution,” Tiago acknowledged.

Superfish are driven to preserve traditions while modernizing. When looking to increase automation, they chose to collaborate with JBT Marel because we understood Superfish’s goals went beyond production capacity and efficiency. “Our primary vision is to keep our workers happy,” said António. Automating the processing line reduced physical strain on employees and ensured production lines remained flexible in an ever-shifting market.

Superfish installed a StripCutter, TargetBatcher, WPL9000+ Automatic Weigh Price Labeler, and Compact Grader, integrated with JBT Marel Software AXIN Solutions. The new additions reduced manual tasks and heavy lifting, improved line efficiency, and ensured end product quality was consistently high. “We have an excellent collaboration with JBT Marel in terms of equipment that facilities both the company and our employees,” said António. “Often eliminating the need for physical strength.”

Superfish made the deliberate choice to invest in standalone equipment to keep line configuration agile and flexible to meet needs today and in the future. “The JBT Marel processes help us evolve in a sustainable way due to the efficiency, quality, and flexibility.” said Tiago. “And our employees are very satisfied because they have significantly reduced manual work.”

Sustainable growth is enabled by technology. By focusing on employee well-being through automation, Superfish was able to focus its investments to specific automated solutions, gaining the tools to meet customer needs and increase capacity today while remaining flexible to scale growth in the future.

About Superfish

Founded in Portugal in 2008, Superfish specializes in cod products. It ensures the quality of its products by starting with the best raw material from certified fishing practices.