Company establishes new subsidiary in Scotland
Cooke Inc. has established a new subsidiary after purchasing a former Skretting aquafeed mill in Invergordon, Scotland.
Northeast Nutrition Scotland Ltd. will manufacture fish feed for Cooke Aquaculture Scotland Ltd., a salmon producer with facilities in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, as well as the United Kingdom’s mainland, the company said. The mill, with production capacity of 100,000 tons per year, is located at Inverbreakie Industrial Estate and had previously produced fish feed for aquaculture companies in Scotland.
“All of our salmon is reared using feeds that are manufactured in compliance with the highest standards for animal feed safety,” said Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. “We are excited to include domestic feed manufacturing in Scotland, adding to the vertical integration of our operations and further enhancing the full traceability of our fish.”
Cooke working with former Skretting employees
In late 2018, Skretting, a subsidiary of Dutch company Nutreco, announced it would cease production in the U.K. by the end of April 2019. The company said at the time that the move was aimed at reducing the overcapacity in the highly competitive salmon feed market, and better utilize the company’s existing production facilities in Europe.
Cooke said it plans to work with former employees who were affected by the closure to resume operations at the mill. More than 50 jobs were lost after Skretting closed the mill.
“We are thrilled to be in a position to offer new opportunities to those employees and have an engaged and experienced team in place from Day 1,” said Chris Bryden, mill manager. “As a rural coastal community, Invergordon has a population of approximately 4,000 residents. Joining the Cooke family of companies provides us with the opportunity to keep Scottish jobs and be an important part of a globally respected growing seafood leader.”
