Chessington, U.K.-based New England Seafood International (NESI) has acquired the business and assets of Devon, U.K.-based Blue Sea Food Company after the latter company entered into administration in early August.
NESI purchased the company from Kroll Advisory, the appointed administrators for Blue Sea Food. Blue Sea Food is a crab processor that buys more than 1,500 metric tons (MT) of live crab annually from its operations in Paignton, Devon, England, and cooks and processes them for sale to the wholesale, foodservice, and retail supply spaces. The company also exports cooked whole crab under the Wild Bay brand to Asia and Europe.
According to a release from NESI, the purchase saved more than 160 jobs at the company. The move also makes Blue Sea Food a part of the Woocheen group of companies owned by Alaska Native Corporation’s Sealaska, which manages a number of businesses including NESI. Sealaska purchased the company in 2020 and brought on most of the company’s leadership team.
“In getting to know the Blue Sea team and business, we have been really impressed by the passion and energy for promoting British crab in the U.K. and around the world,” Woocheen Global Seafood CEO Dan Aherne said. “The opportunity to participate in a new species for NESI, applying the same consumer-led ‘plate-to-sea’ approach that we take to the other species that we offer, represents an exciting opportunity to create further category value.”
The purchase also represents a move back into shellfish for NESI, the company said. NESI currently imports tuna, Alaskan salmon, cod, haddock, and sea bass, which it supplies to U.K. grocery chains and foodservice customers.
Aherne said Woocheen moved quickly to acquire the Paignton operation to secure the jobs at the processing plant, as well as to help secure the relationships Blue Sea Food has built with its customers.
Blue Sea Food Managing Director David Markham said the company anticipates working with NESI will help it expand its reach after a difficult period.
“The last 18 months have been a particularly challenging period for Blue Sea Food Company, the company that we started 20 years ago,” Markham said. “I am delighted NESI has stepped in with such enthusiasm and professionalism to create security for our people and for our processing operation, which plays a vital role in the U.K. crab-processing industry.”
The acquisition comes just over a year after NESI acquired a GBP 3.8 million (USD 4.8 million, EUR 4.4 million) grant to help it finish a major expansion of its processing operations in Grimsby, U.K. The grant, Aherne said at the time, helped the company expand its presence faster than anticipated and cover the costs of processing equipment and the installation of a new refrigeration plant.
