Lagoon Seafood, a leader in the distribution, import, export, and processing of fresh and frozen seafood, has opened its new $10-million facility in Granby, Quebec.
The new 63,000-square-foot facility houses more storage space, new production rooms, and state-of-the-art technology.
“The completion of this project propels us forward in ways we could only dream of a few years ago” said Michael Cheaib, business resource manager at Lagoon Seafood. “Our expanded Granby facility is at the core of our company’s expansion into Ontario, Western Canada, and the United States to meet our new levels of customer demand. The renovated and expanded facility will support our commitment to bring new product lines across our market to respond to our customers’ needs most effectively.”
The company said the new production and packaging facility mainly supplies Blue Tide branded and private label products. It has also significantly increased Lagoon Seafood’s storage capacity and centralized its logistics and storage process. It houses a freezer capable of accommodating more than 2,500 pallets of frozen products, includes new production rooms to support the company’s product innovation ventures and expand its capacity, and accommodates a new spiral freezer, a high-efficiency piece of equipment that shortens the time required to freeze products, maximizing freshness.
Founded in 1992, the family-owned and operated Lagoon Seafood specializes in distributing, importing, exporting, processing, and curing fresh and frozen seafood. Based on more than three decades of experience in the food industry, the company sources various products from South America to Asia, Europe to West Africa, and the Mediterranean, including local selections from Quebec and North America. Its catch comes from fishermen and fish farmers, allowing the company to better control its products’ origin and quality, grouped under the Blue Tide and Royal Harbour brands. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company moves its products to market with the help of select distributors, wholesalers, and direct-to-grocery and retail chains in Canada, the USA, Europe, and Asia.
The company also has facilities in Lachine in Montreal and in Nova Scotia.
Tony Vartivarian, Director of Marketing for Lagoon Seafood, said the new facility is specialized to create value-added products.
“We feel there’s a huge demand in the market and the competition lacks value-added products. Our clients want it. We feel there’s a huge opportunity for innovative fish and seafood products. We receive a lot of demands from clients and from customers about new products they can’t find in grocery stores.”
Vartivarian said in the last two or three years, especially during COVID, the demand increased.
He said demand has always been consistent for fish and seafood throughout the years.
“Canadians love fish and seafood. They prefer Canadian products over any other products. They value their products, their own local products. It’s consistent. It’s steady,” added Vartivarian.
Lagoon Seafood said it has exclusive access to specific species of fish sought after in the industry. This is due in part to its strong partnerships with manufacturing facilities and fishing vessels in Nova Scotia.
A short video on Lagoon’s facility expansion is available on the company’s YouTube channel.
