With Northeast Nutrition Scotland as a subsidiary, Canadian Cooke will now produce fish feed in formerly closed mill in Scotland.
Canadian family-owned company Cooke acquired the Invergordon site in September 2019 and through its subsidiary Northeast Nutrition Scotland, has worked with former employees who were affected by the closure to resume operations at the mill.
The company earlier on revealed production of fish feed would be restarted in January 2020 with the first batch rolling off the production lines and delivered within four months of Cooke acquiring the plant.
“This is a milestone moment for the company. To get the mill operational within four months is testament to the skill and experience of the people who work for us,” says Chris Bryden, Invergordon Mill Manager in a press release.
The mill was previously owned by Skretting, but in 2018 they announced plans to cease UK manufacturing activities, and closed the Invergordon facility at the end of April 2019.
The mill has the capacity to produce over 100,000 tons of fish feed, covering a wide range of pellet sizes. The mill will supply feed to Scottish salmon farms in Orkney and Shetland owned and operated by sister company Cooke Aquaculture Scotland. Northeast Nutrition Scotland will also seek to develop new supply chain opportunities within the UK and global aquaculture sector.
In 2018, it was announced that the mill would close with 100 jobs being lost. Skretting then blamed the market for its decision. Northeast Nutrition Scotland has re-hired 22 people, most of whom were made redundant when the mill closed last year.
“We are really pleased to have been able to re-hire so many of the people who lost their jobs when the plant closed last year- their knowledge and commitment is what will enable us to rebuild the business and secure its future. Now that we are back up and running, I am confident that we will grow the supply chain and meet the nutritional needs of our customers with top quality feed,” states Chris Bryden.
