Category: News

This morning Matís ohf. delivered new premises at Vínlandsleið 12. Mótás hf. built the house and furnished it according to Matís' needs.

Matís' operations in Reykjavík have been in 3 locations but will now be merged under one roof and this will be a great streamlining of operations.

"This change will be a revolution for Matís and the company's operations. We are merging operations that are currently in three locations in Reykjavík under one roof. At the same time, it will be a great change and strength for our offices around the country to now be able to have their backing under the same roof in Reykjavík, "says Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís.

The merger in one place lays the foundation for an even stronger work for the research company Matís, and the CEO says that it can be important for innovative projects in the field of the food industry.

"I have no doubt that we are already seeing the results of our emphasis on increasing Matís' collaboration with universities and the business community. This supports innovation in fisheries and agriculture, but also innovations such as food-related tourism, for example. The business community is constantly perceiving better opportunities in research and that is precisely why I welcome the fact that we are enabled to grow with new headquarters when it is important for the national economy to promote innovation, "says Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís.

In the next few days, the new building will be moved and operations there will be fully operational in early January 2010.

Matís thanks Mótás hf. for a very successful collaboration at this time.

From 14 to 23 December 2009, Matís' operations in Reykjavík will move to new shared premises at Vínlandsleið 12 in Grafarholt. Due to the relocation, it will not be possible to receive samples for microbial and service measurements in Reykjavík during this period.

Customers are kindly requested to schedule sampling projects so that they do not fall within the specified transfer dates. If there is an urgent need, we can provide our customers with certain microbial and chemical measurements at our laboratory in Neskaupstaður or at other accredited laboratories that we use as subcontractors during the transfer period.

It is expected that the operation of the service measurements will return to normal as early as the beginning of January next year. As soon as we apologize for any inconvenience our business partners may have from this temporary disruption to Matís 'service measurement operations, we would like to extend a warm welcome to you for your continued business and cooperation in Matís' new and magnificent headquarters.

On behalf of Matís' service measurement staff,

Franklin Georgsson,
Head of Measurement & Communication.

The fishing year 2004/2005 was the first recorded mackerel catch in Icelandic jurisdiction, since then the catch has increased from year to year but in the fishing year 2008/2009 a catch was set, then 100,000 tonnes of mackerel could be caught with Norwegian-Icelandic herring in Icelandic jurisdiction.

The mackerel has mainly been caught in July and August off the coast of Iceland, but in the summer of 2009 Icelandic vessels began to catch mackerel with herring in June and caught mackerel until September. For the next fishing year, 130 thousand tonnes of mackerel have been allocated. 

In order to be able to process mackerel on board Icelandic fishing vessels, they must have certain equipment, first there must be a sorter that sorts the mackerel from the herring. Style classifiers have proven to be good in that respect, but it is also possible to classify the mackerel in that equipment. The traditional processing line used for processing and freezing herring needs to be changed so that the mackerel can be decapitated and gutted before it is frozen. The market is mainly for decapitated and gutted mackerel, as its shelf life is the most.

It is important to be able to classify the mackerel from the Norwegian-Icelandic herring when the species in question are caught together to create the most value from the catch, instead of sending a large part of the mackerel-mixed herring catch for smelting. Numerous experiments have been made with the classification of the species and they have been successful, whether in the processing of only one species or both at a time.

An interesting meeting on opportunities in the Icelandic fisheries sector has just ended, a meeting hosted by Matís, the AVS Fund and the Association of Fish Processing Plants.

The meeting was well attended and about 160 people came to listen to the speeches of Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji, and Sveinn Margeirsson, division manager at Matís.

The aim of the meeting was to shed light on opportunities and possibilities for better utilization and increased value. Icelanders are at the forefront of the utilization of marine resources and have strong and powerful fisheries companies with years of experience in meeting the needs of the market. But our raw material is a limited resource and therefore it is necessary to make the best use of it and create great value from it.

Þorsteinn Már's speech can be found here and Sveinn's talk can be found here.

For further information, please contact Sveinn Margeirsson, sveinn.margeirsson@matis.is, and Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, steinar.b.adalbjornsson@matis.is.

Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji, and Sveinn Margeirsson, division manager at Matís, discuss opportunities in the Icelandic fisheries sector at an open meeting on Thursday. Dec 3 at 08:30 at Hilton Reykjavik Nordica Hotel, Suðurlandsbraut 2.

The meeting is hosted by Matís, the AVS fund and the Association of Fish Processing Plants.

The aim of the meeting is to shed light on opportunities and possibilities for better utilization and increased value. Icelanders are at the forefront of the utilization of marine resources and have strong and powerful fisheries companies with years of experience in meeting the needs of the market. But our raw material is a limited resource and therefore it is necessary to make the best use of it and create great value from it.

It could be that we are missing out on opportunities by often exporting unprocessed raw materials, we can make better use of our well-educated people in development and marketing, we can make better use of the opportunities inherent in the source of the raw material, and so on.

This meeting can shed light on the future possibilities of the Icelandic fisheries sector.

An advertisement for the meeting can be found here.

Recently, an article about the QALIBRA project was published, the aim of which is to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health.

The article can be found here.

Further information can be obtained from Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, helga.gunnlaugsdottir@matis.is

Matís participates in the European network of excellence EuroFIR on food databases and chemical content of food. A workshop on traditional foods in Europe has now been completed.

Five traditional foods were selected in each country, the production process was defined and then a number of nutrients were measured in the products. The Icelandic food was skyr, ham, pickled blood butter, dried fish and a delicious shark. This project was carried out in collaboration with the Agricultural University of Iceland.

Information on traditional foods has now been compiled and published in a loose-leaf folder. The text is in both English and the language of the country in question. The history of the food, its production and nutritional value are discussed. The information has been published on the EuroFIR project website and can be accessed at:

eurofir.org

A general report on traditional European food was also published and can be accessed at:

http://www.eurofir.net/temp/EuroFIRspSynthesisspReportsp6_TraditionalspFoodsspinspEuropehs4hs.pdf

There is reason to point out a diverse version of the EuroFIR project. These are reports and information sheets on a variety of issues related to the chemical content of food. These include the discussion of trans fatty acids, health claims, bioactive substances, regulations and programs.

For further information, please contact Ólafur Reykdal, olafur.reykdal@matis.is.

Introductory meeting for the fishing industry and carriers in the Westman Islands - Matís ohf. and the University of Iceland.

Thursday 26 November An introductory meeting will be held on the results of the cooling projects Kælibót and Chill-on and Hermun kæliferla. Extensive experiments have been carried out in the field of cooling catfish from the market. Participants in the project are connected to different links in the chain: raw material handling, processing, transport and marketing. Various experiments from extensive research on cooling fish will be presented. The experiments were performed in the winter of 2008-2009 under real conditions. A comparison has been made of:

• cooling capacity of different ice media and machines for their production
• cooling methods during processing (liquid and erosive cooling)
• different packaging for product packaging
• different transport routes (ships and flights) and the effect of improved temperature control on the transport of chilled products.

Experiments are now underway where the best methods for each link in the chain are selected together and the whole chain is run in one experiment under real conditions. Transport processes have been mapped in terms of time and temperature, and refrigeration simulators will be used to set up those processes for storing products. In this way, the necessary measurements can be performed without the transfer from the sampling site to the laboratory interfering with the results. At the same time, transport to foreign markets will be imitated by sending fish to the Westman Islands. Foreign participants Chill-on (www.chill-on.com/) have arrived in the country and will test their technology with this transfer.

Location:
Vestmannaeyjar Knowledge Center - Strandvegur 50 - 900 Vestmannaeyjar
Phone: 481 1111 - Fax: 481 2669 - Email: setur@setur.is

The agenda of the meeting can be found here.

The Icelandic participants in the projects Kælibótar and Chill-on are: Brim hf., Eimskip hf., Háskóli Íslands, Icelandair Cargo, Matís ohf., Optimar á Íslandi ehf., Samherji hf., Samskip hf. Skaginn hf. and Opale Seafood.

The projects are funded by AVS, EU, Tækniþróunarsjóður Rannís and Rannsóknarsjóður Háskóli Íslands.

A study on fish products is currently underway, which is a collaborative project between companies and institutions from three countries. Partners in Norway are Nofima, the Culinary Institute, Tank Design and the Norwegian Sea Export Council, in Denmark the Aarhus School of Business, the Department of Market Research and Statistics.

Here in Iceland they are Matís, FYLGIFISKAR, Lýðheilsustöð and Reykjavíkurborg (education and preschool department).

We would love if you could see yourself able to answer the survey. Answers can not be traced to individuals and your name will of course not appear anywhere in the processing of the survey. The survey covers 10 minutes. She has answered online by going to the URL:  http://fishevidence.net/limesurvey/index.php?sid=88481&lang=is

Please complete the questionnaire by December 4th.

The person responsible for the survey is Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir, a specialist at Matís in Iceland and Themis Altintzoglou, a doctoral student at Nofima in Norway. If you have any questions in connection with the survey, you can contact Gunnþórunn or Themis.

Hoping for a good response,
Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir Themistoklis Altintzoglou
Matís, Iceland Nofima, Norway
gunnthorunn.einarsdottir@matis.is                  themis.altintzoglou@nofima.no

Three winners will be drawn here in Iceland and are 10,000 ISK in prize for each.

Winners will be drawn on Tuesday 15 December and their names will be posted on Matís' page www.matis.is.  

The food industry plays an important role in the Nordic countries. In recent years, emphasis has been placed on the safety, sustainability, purity, hygiene and traceability of food produced in the area.

The conference will focus on these key issues in an era of growing international trade in raw materials and processed foods. The connection between food and the origins, culture and cuisine of the Nordic countries will also be discussed.

Topics at the conference will include:

• Food security in the world of globalization
• Interaction between animal welfare, health and food analysis in the market
• Innovation in the food sector
• Nordic culture and identity vs. innovation
• The position of the Nordic food industry and the potential of the world market

The aim is to provide an overview of the position of the Nordic food industry in terms of international security and innovation. Efforts will be made to define challenges and future opportunities for Nordic food.

Do consumers and industry share the authorities' emphasis on sustainability, quality, purity, health and traceability? Which items are considered most important? How do consumers perceive food safety messages? How can the Nordic countries contribute to the international arena in the future in terms of resource management and use? Where are international standards heading and how can policy makers and industry stakeholders influence them? Are Nordic governments and private companies creating technical barriers due to their emphasis on concepts such as safety, cleanliness, health, sustainability and traceability? What future opportunities and challenges does Nordic food face?

Representatives from different stakeholders will discuss these issues from their point of view. The conference is intended for the food industry, scientists, consumer organizations, policy makers and the authorities. The results will be published on the conference website.

Web Nordic Values in the Food Sector - The way forward in a global perspective