Marine Harvest to fully implement “disruptive technology innovation” by 2019

Aquaculture giant Marine Harvest is planning to roll out what it calls a “disruptive technology innovation for its fish products” for the European market, the company announced on 21 April. 

The innovation, a smart labeling indicator called “Keep-It”, will allow consumers and Marine Harvest customers to see real-time, accurate readings of freshness and better gauge the shelf-life of the company’s seafood. The company will be the first in the global seafood industry to adopt such a technology, it said.

Keep-It is an innovation that will “revolutionize and redefine the way the industry will define shelf-life by making it much easier to secure freshness, food quality and reduce food waste,” according to Marine Harvest. 

“Temperature variations in the cold chain makes handling fresh fish a race against the clock,” Marine Harvest Chief Operating Officer Ola Brattvoll said. “With Keep-it shelf life indicators, we can offer our clients and their customers a tool that monitors freshness with accuracy. It is both simple and smart, and secures the top quality product we would like to offer the European seafood consumers.”

Ten European companies will receive Marine Harvest products equipped with Keep-it indicators by 2019, with test launches and trials planned for this year. The indicators are affixed directly after the fish has been cut and packed. This allows the technology to “keep track of the actual temperature impact on the fish product in real-time, thus enabling a more dynamic and precise shelf life than traditional date stamping,” throughout the cold chain, the company said.

“Our aim is to provide a better tool for producers, retailers and consumers than today’s static date-stamp. With Keep-it, Marine Harvest and their customers will have a smart and simple tool to secure and document a high quality cold chain and evidence of freshness. With our solution we believe traditional date stamping will soon be expired,” said Kristen A. Hovland, CEO of Keep-it Technologies.

Keep-It, which was tested over a few years with the Norwegian retailer REMA 1000, has been deemed ready to launch internationally. 

“The retail chain has experienced increased consumer satisfaction, better in-store routines, reduced food waste and hence improved profitability. Since implementing Keep-it on more than 20 million fresh food products, REMA 1000 has attained a front seat position in shelf life accuracy and food waste reduction in the Norwegian market,” said the company in a news release. 

“We have high expectations for this new technology and that it will help us in further developing the high quality prepacked fresh fish category in Europe,” Brattvoll said.

Marine Harvest will be exhibiting at the upcoming Seafood Expo Global event in Brussels, Belgium from 25 to 27 April at booth No. 5-545.