Disinfection down to the cubic millimeter

Far from hierarchy, a preference for fast paced operations and an entrepreneurial family mentality. This is how fish company Noordzee International has grown rapidly. Reliable disinfection is essential. 

What kind of company is Noordzee International B.V.? That question cannot be answered without director Lubbert Korf. The mark he has left on the Urk-based company can be sensed everywhere. The company - selling both fresh and frozen fish in many European countries, as well as trading with the United States - has managed to retain the mentality of a family business. Even with a stormy growth in recent years. 

Not one for job titles

Although his job title is 'commercial director' at Noordzee, Rein Kramer says: "We are not big on job titles. Look, if you are hired here, you are free to do what you want; as long as it is in the interest of the company. If that is something for you, you will stick around here. Everyone else moves on. We are a small bunch and we are doing as many things together as possible. I mean, Lubbert is usually the one who puts the work clothes in the washing machine. Do you know of many companies where the director does the laundry?"

Urk mentality

For Gerrit Hakvoort, who has been involved in everything to do with quality, certifications, food safety and working conditions at Noordzee for about nine years, the Urker mentality is just as deeply rooted. "I am practical-minded and mainly interested in: what really works? At Urk, we like to avoid complicating things. Problems are there to be solved!" 

Growing like a missile

Founded in 1990, Noordzee International made its first growth spurt by going into frozen fish - after fresh. An interesting market was opened up in Italy with filleted frozen flounder. "In schools there, people eat warm food at lunchtime, on Fridays of course fish, and in that case a neutral flounder fillet like this is perfect." Thanks to an innovative freezing technique at the time, the fillets were frozen in four minutes instead of the usual 20 minutes at the time. Rein Kramer: "We like being ahead of the game."

Also innovative: the Valka waterjet cutter that portions cod high tech, making it more marketable. Rein Kramer: "The factory we opened in 2018 was meant for flatfish, but a year later the supply was much less. Then Lubbert said, from now on we will process a truck with 20 tonnes of cod every day, whatever happens. That was an exciting year for me, because we started with zero cod customers. Now cod is the big hero at Noordzee International." Incidentally, the company also stepped into salmon in 2019. That new factory is only operational if the water is warm enough, the salmon grows fast and thus the supply is large. Rein Kramer: "'That's when it's commercially interesting for us." 

From left to right. Robert Kostrubiec, Rein Kramer en Gerrit Hakvoort 

Simple Disinfection

Cleaning and disinfection - crucial in fish - is outsourced by Noordzee. Gerrit Hakvoort: "Cleaning after a hard day's work is a lot to ask. You are also not as focused. Go on home we tell our staff, the cleaning crew will do the rest."

Regarding the disinfection, at Noordzee they latched on to the story of disinfection specialist Simpel Desinfecteren. Gerrit Hakvoort: "Lubbert told me one day, 'a guy is coming for disinfection'. Anyway, that 'guy' was Robert Kostrubiec. We did a round together to see how many Nocomax devices we needed, we quickly figured it out." Robert Kostrubiec laughs. "I must admit that I haven't seen a company decide so quickly before." But what was the big advantage for Noordzee then? "Disinfecting the entire space. You include everything because the Nocomax devices fill the entire room with dry ion vapour. The liquid does not rain down and therefore literally every cubic millimetre in a room is disinfected. Furthermore, it is fully automated, so human error is a thing of the past."

Liquid

Now, the Nocolyse Food liquid from Simple Desinfecteren only has market approval in combination with the included equipment that vaporises the liquid into dry ion vapour. Robert Kostrubiec: "In combination with another liquid, the equipment is not allowed to be used. Some users do so because they want to save money. That is not only a violation of the law, it is also downright dangerous. We are therefore extremely happy to have a customer like Noordzee International endorsing that." Rein Kramer: "There is such a thing as mis-saving." 

"Totally agree," says Gerrit Hakvoort, "we want to have the right products for everything. And the Nocotech equipment combined with the right fluid works like a charm for us."

www.noordzeeinternational.com
www.simpeldesinfecteren.nl

Photos: ©Ton Kastermans