Steen exec: Seafood industry not paying enough attention to food safety issues

Steen International Sales Manager Lourenz Seesing believes the global seafood industry needs to pay more attention to health and food safety issues.

“It's a big issue and a big topic at the moment,” Seesing told SeafoodSource at the 2023 Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain on 27 April.

The Antwerp, Belgium-based processing-equipment manufacturer, which is part of the F.P.M. International family of companies, has 17 employees and had EUR 8 million (USD 8.8 million) in sales in 2022. Its core business is making, installing, and servicing fish-skinning machines.

“That's what we're doing for 60 years, and hopefully, we're going to do it another 60 years,” he said.

Seesing said that long history is proof the company knows what processors need when it comes to equipment, and that it has the acumen to produce quality machines and the reliability and service chops necessary to have established a long-term presence in the industry.

“We know where we come from. We have a lot of experience with the customers,” Seesing said. “We have our old concepts, which will always be there because they’re a recognition point for some customers and they like to buy the same machines they’re used to, but we are also not afraid to reinvent the machinery that we already have.”

Meshing with Seesing’s theme of food-safety concerns, the big trend in development for Steen this year is easy-cleaning equipment.

“It’s about what more can you do more for the customer? For us, the answer was easier cleaning. This year, we have machinery that you can take apart without any tools. You can disassemble it, put it on trolleys, and then it can either be cleaned inside our taken somewhere else to be cleaned,” Seesing said. “This ease of cleaning also helps to minimize the time between shifts, and optimizes the results from the machine.”

Steen has ensured its global network of distributors are all trained to do after-sale service, but if that doesn’t get the job done, Steen ensures an in-house expert resolves any problem a customer encounters with one of its machines, Seesing said.

“It has always been our goal to be one step ahead of the changes that are coming,” Seesing said. “We need to make sure that we can keep ahead. Competition is very good for that because it always keeps you trying to improve and reinvent yourself. We are hoping next year that we can start doing some more [research and development] in order to continue to innovate to stay ahead of the ever-changing market.”

Photo courtesy of Cliff White/SeafoodSource