The Minister of Finance, Árni Mathiesen, formally opened the Matís office (Matvælarannsóknir Íslands) and the Lobster Hotel in Höfn in Hornafjörður today. At the opening, the Minister and Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, enjoyed fresh lobster from the Lobster Hotel.
Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, said at the opening that the goal of the Höfn office was to strengthen research work, create facilities and a platform for increased collaboration with the business community and promote value creation in collaboration with food companies in the area.
Hjalti Vignisson, Mayor of Höfn, said that it was important for the area to get food research companies like Matís to strengthen development work and promote a more diverse economy.
At the Lobster Hotel, which is a collaborative project between Matís, the East Iceland Entrepreneurship Center, Sæplast, the Marine Research Institute and Skinney Þinganes, it is possible to store live lobsters caught in the depths of Hornafjörður. The lobster is transported live to the hotel where it is stored in refrigerated conditions. It is then transported live to the market abroad. A pilot project on the export of live lobster has been going on for the past few months and the lobster has already been exported to Belgium.
The project has therefore been very successful, but we have managed to get up to a third higher price for live lobster from Höfn than frozen lobster.
Figure 1: Árni Mathiesen, Minister of Finance, and Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, taste fresh lobster from the Lobster Hotel at the opening of Matís' office in Höfn.
Figure 2: Friðrik Friðriksson, Chairman of the Board of Matís, and Árni Mathiesen, Minister of Finance.
Figure 3: Hjalti Vignisson, Mayor of Höfn, and Ari Þorsteinsson, Executive Director of the East Iceland Entrepreneurship Center.