Production processes

Fishing boats deliver the fresh fish – anchovies and sardines – to our clean and well-maintained production areas.

Sardines are mainly caught in the colder part of the year, while anchovies are caught when it gets warmer.

The fish is delivered to the factory, which spreads over 6000 square meters, in the shortest time possible. It is immediately stored and prepared for further processing.

Great care is taken to perform all actions that will ensure that the quality of the fish remains unchanged. This is achieved by storing the fish at suitable temperatures while they are still on the fishing boat, and then by securing the cold transportation chain.

Once it comes to the factory, the fish is no longer at risk, in any way. Each year, our company has a turnover of about 5 thousand tons of small pelagic fish.

Freezing

Our facilities have a modern equipment for freezing freshly caught fish, and use the individual quick-freezing (IQF) method or the block freezing method. The block freezing takes place in so-called tunnels. Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) takes place in a modern IQF machine with the capacity of 2 t/h , which ensures that the temperature falls to an extremely low level in a very short time. This provides for a high quality of the frozen sardines and anchovies. We pack the frozen products in packages of different sizes, according to customers’ wishes, especially when using the IQF method. The freezing blocks weigh approximately 8 kilos each.

Marinating

In our case, marinating is a method of preserving anchovy fillets using white vinegar. When this relatively short process is completed, the fillet is purified in a special process and stored in the marinade. The marinated anchovies are packed in 20-liter barrels (14 kg of fillets + 6 l of liquid). These are intended for further processing or repackaging. We do not marinate sardines.
Srdelu ne mariniramo.

Salting

Salting is probably the oldest known way of preserving small pelagic fish for the periods of the year when it is not possible to get it fresh. A highly valued delicacy has resulted from this traditional way of fish processing. As with the marinade, in our plant we do not salt sardines, only anchovies. The process of salting and maturation is carried out in carefully controlled conditions and it takes months. Salting is a process that does not rely on machines. The entire processing, i.e. cleaning, salting and all the activities related to the maturation phase, is done manually. The resulting products are packed in highly quality cans, better known by the name of "lata”, and in barrels. These are semi-finished products, intended for factories, food preparation facilities and retail deliveries. They are also the most common items for export. We keep one part of the semi–finished products to ourselves, to create anchovy fillets under our own brand. The filleting and final packing of the products is also done manually.