Morrisons opens UK’s largest fish freezing centre

Morrisons food manufacturing supplier Myton Food Group has opened the Falfish Freezing Centre, the largest facility of its type in the UK.

The £12.8m development at the Myton-owned Cornish fishing business Falfish is the largest and most advanced seafood freezing line in the UK with a freezing tunnel that can freeze 112,000 fish per hour.

Plans for the site first began in 2021 when Morrisons acquired Falfish after being a trusted supplier for over 16 years.

The opening of the centre represents the largest single investment made in Cornish shoresides in a generation with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) providing £3.8m of the funding through its UK Seafood Infrastructure Fund.

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As the supermarket prepares and makes more than half of all the fresh food sold in its stores, the new site will provide further efficiency as it will allow for fresh fish to be frozen and packed in just half an hour.

The new centre will also help Morrisons to achieve its target of net zero operational emissions by 2035 as it has an innovative hot gas defrost system and green refrigerant with zero global warming potential to ensure it is economical and environmentally friendly to run.

Myton Food Group managing director Andrew Thornber said: “Over 80% of the fish and shellfish sold in Morrisons stores comes from our seafood operations in Cornwall, where we buy directly from local fishermen.

“Opening the UK’s largest fish freezing centre not only strengthens our position as one of Britain’s biggest foodmakers but also significantly grows our seafood export business.

“We have been excited about this innovative project since acquiring Falfish in 2021, which makes such a positive difference to the local industry and community and provides a sustainable future – as well as the freshest fish for customers in Morrisons stores.”