Marel has long been a key player in the fish processing chain in Iceland with its technical equipment where emphasis is placed on raw material quality and processing speed. Matís' collaboration with Marel is extensive and both parties benefit significantly from it.
"Within Marel, a lot of valuable knowledge has been built up about processing technology in the food industry, not least in the fishing industry," says Sigurjón Arason, chief engineer at Matís and professor of food engineering at the University of Iceland.
There has been a collaboration between Matís and Marel for many years and, for example, two of Sigurjón's students now work for the company but were previously Matís employees. Both of them worked on projects related to fish processing companies in their work at Matís, and Sigurjón says that it is valuable that their knowledge is used in technological development within Marel.
"Collaboration between us is first and foremost project-related and from Matís we invest in the development of our research capacity and knowledge of raw materials and the effects of processing on it. It is essential to look at the entire fish processing process, from fishing to the consumer, as it is not possible to create good fish products if the quality of the raw material is not available. Technology can never make up for poor raw materials, "says Sigurjón.
"In recent years, researchers have become increasingly involved in the development, both the development of technological solutions such as at Marel and research into the floor at the processing companies. After all, we sometimes say that there are our best experimental rooms in the research work. There we can test ourselves further, make our measurements and use the results as soon as they are created. Matís is therefore very important to be able to work alongside companies such as Marel and at the same time increase our relationship and cooperation with the fish processing companies. It is to the advantage of the Icelandic fishing industry.
Today, the research work is increasingly about the development of the processing processes as a whole, and as a result we look at the raw material treatment at sea, as well as factors related to the transport of products to the market, packaging of products and so on. The process itself looks at the integration of technical equipment, and in time this development may lead to changes that in the future will be referred to as a revolution. The goal is to create even better products - even more value from what the resource provides, "says Sigurjón Arason.