 Reynir B. Eiríksson has been appointed managing director of Vélfag ehf. Reynir takes over from Bjarmi Sigurgardsson and Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir.
Reynir has worked for Vélfag as a production manager. Reynir has long experience in management as the manager of Ferrozink and production manager at Norðlenska and Skinnaiðnaði. "Vélfag is an interesting company, and I am happy to be able to participate in its further development." Reynir looks forward to helping the company expand into new markets while continuing to deliver a high level of customer service to its customers. "I have great faith in Vélfag; exciting times are ahead, and I am convinced that Vélfag can become extremely strong." Recently, a change has also been made to the company's management team, which will include, in addition to Bjarmi as the development manager, Sigrún Á. Sigmundsdóttir finance manager, Reimar Viðarsson service manager and Ragnar Guðmundsson sales manager. Bjarmi and Ólöf, the founders of Vélfag, have been the managers since 1995. "We are pleased to hand the reigns over to the new team of talented and experienced managers. We consider this a vital step for Velfag on its long journey into a promising future. As we let go of day-to-day operations, we can focus entirely on Velfag's product development." At first, Vélfag mainly provided service in the fishing industry but quickly developed into a production company with development as its driving force. It is safe to say that Vélfag has put a lot of ambition and effort into its production and service, which has yielded outstanding results. Finnbogi Baldvinsson is the chairman of the board of Vélfag. "Vélfag is a strong company rooted in seafood industry experience and has great growth potential. Hiring the new management team strengthens the company significantly," says Finnbogi. "In my opinion, Vélfag is a well-kept secret in the Eyjafjörður area. It has delivered incredible development and products compared to its size. The company's foundations have become very strong, necessary in the exciting times ahead."
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 Ilivileq docked in Reykjavík last Friday with one of the most significant and valuable catches to be landed in an Icelandic Harbor. The total catch was 2000 tons, thereof 700 tons of frozen cod fillets that ran smoothly through M700 & M725. "We are overjoyed with the Vélfag machinery, which operates 24/7 with the best possible yield. It is crucial to have two filleting machines in tours like this, " said Matthías Leifsson, a shift leader on board.  The vessel is tailor-made with two fully integrated processing lines. The system includes two computer-controlled M505 heading machines that scan and measure the fish for arc cut to get the most valuable meat on the neck without compromising the filleting process. The filleting machines are M700 for small to medium fish and the advanced M725 for large fish. Both filleting machines are combined with Vélfag's skinning equipment to maximize throughput and uptime.  The freezer trawler Sólberg ÓF-1 docked in Siglufjörður yesterday morning with about 600 tons of cod, 130 tons of pollock, and 100 tons of haddock. The vessel has now achieved the highest catch value in one year among Icelandic trawlers since the very beginning. More than 12 thousand tons have been processed from the ship during the year, which ran smoothly through seven machines from Vélfag. The value of the catch altogether is over 46 million Euros.
For the best possible utilization, quality, and uptime, Rammi hf chose the following machinery for their 79.8-meter super trawler; 3x M500 heading machines, 1x M700 filleting machine with combined M800 skinning machine and 1x computer-controlled M725 big fish filleting machine with M825 skinning machine combined. A few words from the crew members: "For many years we have worked with different types of fish processing equipment, where we‘ve experienced that maintenance is different between manufacturers. We highly recommend the Vélfag machinery as their uptime and quality are the best we‘ve ever experienced." - Sölvi Lárusson and Aðalbjörn Frímansson, Mechanics at Sólberg ÓF-1 www.mbl.is/200milur/frettir/2022/12/15/mesta_aflaverdmaeti_islensks_togara_fra_upphafi/  Picture: goodfish.ie In 2021 the forward-thinking company, Good Fish in Ireland invested in the M521 (H&G) and the M705 computer-controlled filleting machine from Vélfag. The Good Fish Company is an award-winning fish processor with high requirements of providing the freshest and best quality fish on the Irish market. After almost two years of experience with Vélfag, the owner had this to say: I strongly recommend the robust fish processing machines from Vélfag, which fulfilled all our requirements and expectations. Their machinery is very assessable and operates in a broader range of different species with increased yield, which was an essential fit for The Good fish Company selected Vélfag equipment to process Haddocks <450g-2kg, Hake <500g – 4Kg and Pollock/ Cod’s 550g - 4kg, which is then supplied to their loyal customers, major Irish retailers, and discerning restaurateurs.
We strive to make a difference, so this is a massive compliment for the Vélfag team.  Vélfag's operating system TakeControl enables the computerized processing machines to operate in a broader size range and different species with increased yield. It offers alteration from one fish species to the other with a push of a button and differentiating between stiff and soft fish. The following pictures show a 40g fillet that was processed laned-based with our M705 and a 6,7 kg fillet that was filleted by Sigurður Alfreðsson at sea with our M725 big filleting machine.
 Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir Iceland's minister of Higher education, Industry, and Innovation, and Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson, Member of the Parliament for the Independence Party along with their associate Magnús Júlíusson visited Vélfag this week in Akureyri. After a short introduction to the company, the group was given a tour through the factory and shown the M705 filleting machine and other exciting forthcoming projects. The minister praised the company as she said, "Vélfag has invested heavily in research and development and is innovating to revolutionize fish processing to increase quality and reduce emissions, waste, etc."
The Vélfag team would like to thank Áslaug, Njáll Trausti and Magnús for their pleasant and inspiring visit.  Vélfag´s founders, Mr. Bjarmi Arnfjörð Sigurgarðarsson and Mrs. Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir. Picture / Silfá Huld Bjarmadóttir The Russian company Norebo, headquartered in Murmansk and one of the world’s largest seafood companies, has acquired 54,5 % of the shares in the Icelandic seafood processing machine maker Vélfag ehf., from Vélfag´s founders, Mrs. Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir and Mr. Bjarmi Arnfjörð Sigurgarðarsson. At the same time, they are increasing Vélfag ehf.´s share capital. This transaction strengthens Vélfag ehf., going forward, and is a testament to Vélfag´s employees‘ and owners‘ work. Getting Norebo on board as a shareholder and cooperation partner prepares Vélfag for increased production while also bolstering Vélfag´s research and development projects. Vélfag was founded in 1995 by Ólöf and Bjarmi. The company started as a maintenance servicing company for the Icelandic seafood industry, but eventually, it shifted its focus to developing and producing its own machines and selling them to fish processing vessels and factories. Suffice to say, Vélfag has put a tremendous effort in developing their machinery and equipment over the years. This has resulted in great interest from the seafood processing industry both in Iceland and abroad. Vélfag is an innovative company based on strong entrepreneurial work. The company has received an innovation award, and last year, it received a research and innovation grant in the amount of ISK 50 million from Rannís, The Icelandic Centre for Research, to develop a machine, which has been put into a patent granting procedure. With large sales contracts in the pipeline and a new strong partner on board, there are exciting times ahead for Vélfag. Founded in 1997, Russian holding Norebo with headquarters in Murmansk has expanded its operations globally and is now one of the world´s largest and most reputable harvesters of wild seafood. Norebo´s customers choose from a wide range of seafood and related products – either produced at sea or onshore – and services including marine terminal and cold storage. Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir and Bjarmi Arnfjörð Sigurgarðarsson will stay as the Managing Directors of the company. Vélfag´s board of directors will comprise Mr. Finnbogi A. Baldvinsson, Ms. Soling Yip, Chief Financial Officer of Norebo Overseas Holding, and Mr. Pavel Kosolapov, Technical Director of Norebo Group. For more information : Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir oll@velfag.com or Finnbogi Baldvinsson, f.baldvinsson@fabconsulting.info Gengið hefur verið frá sölu á 54,5 % hlut í Vélfagi ehf til rússneska fyrirtækisins Norebo, eins stærsta útgerðarfélags heims. Stofnendur Vélfags, Bjarmi Arnfjörð Sigurgarðarsson og Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir seldu hlut í félaginu og um leið var hlutafé aukið. Kaupverð er trúnaðarmál.
Viðskiptin eru afar ánægjuleg fyrir Vélfag og gríðarleg viðurkenning fyrir eigendur og starfsfólk fyrirtækisins. Mikill fengur er í Norebo sem hluthafa og samstarfsaðila, kaupin styrkja mjög stoðir Vélfags og búa fyrirtækið undir aukið þróunarstarf og verulega aukningu í framleiðslu. Vélfag var stofnað árið 1995 af þeim Bjarma og Ólöfu. Fyrst í stað var fyrirtækið í þjónustu við fyrirtæki í sjávarútvegi en fljótlega hófu starfsmenn Vélfags að þróa og framleiða vélar fyrir fiskvinnslu. Óhætt er þó að segja að fyrirtækið hafi lagt mikinn metnað og kraft í þróun á vélum, sem hefur skilað mjög góðum árangri. Vélfag er framsækið nýsköpunarfyrirtæki, sem byggir á öflugu frumkvöðlastarfi. Fyrirtækið hefur hlotið nýsköpunarverðlaun og á síðasta ári fékk það nýsköpunarstyrk að upphæð 50 milljónir frá Rannís Tækniþróunarsjóði til þróunar á vél, sem er í einkaleyfisferli. Í farvatninu eru stórir sölusamningar og óhætt að segja að framundan séu mjög áhugaverðir og bjartir tímar hjá Vélfagi. Stofnendur Vélfags, Bjarmi og Ólöf, gleðjast mjög á þessum tímamótum: „Við fögnum þessum merka og mikilvæga áfanga í sögu Vélfags. Við erum sannfærð um að þetta sé mikið gæfuspor enda mun aðkoma Norebo skjóta styrkum stoðum undir Vélfag til að takast á við krefjandi framtíð og tryggja jafnframt áframhaldandi þjónustu og gæði fyrir bæði núverandi og framtíðar viðskiptavini. Framundan eru gríðarmiklar áskoranir í vinnslu og meðferð sjávarafurða í breyttri heimsmynd. Við hlökkum mikið til að takast á við þessi spennandi tækifæri með því öfluga og metnaðarfulla fyrirtæki sem Norebo er.“ Stjórn félagsins munu skipa Finnbogi Baldvinsson fyrir hönd Bjarma og Ólafar, en aðrir í stjórn eru Soling Yip, fjármálastjóri Norebo Overseas Holding og Pavel Kosolapov, framkvæmdastjóri tæknimála hjá Norebo Group. Framkvæmdastjórar Vélfags verða sem áður Bjarmi Arnfjörð Sigurgarðarson og Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir. Nánari upplýsingar veita: Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir oll@velfag.com eða Finnbogi Baldvinsson, f.baldvinsson@fabconsulting.info  Ólöf Ýr Lárusdóttir the CEO of Vélfag and Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir the project manager. Photo: Þorgeir Baldursson Vélfag has signed an agreement with the Technology Development Fund (Rannís) for funding the design and development of a new type of fish processing machine. The new machine will revolutionize fish processing as we know it and make it easier for fish processors to produce higher-value products.
The Technology Development Fund is a competitive fund that issues its calls for proposals twice a year. The role of the fund is to support research and development activities, which aim towards innovation in the Icelandic industry. A total of 459 applications were received, and Vélfag was one of 73 projects that got funding. The grant categories were; Practical Research Projects, Seeds, Sprouts, Growth, and Market Strength. We look forward to working on this project and entering a successful partnership with the fund. The electropolished machinery from Vélfag repels dirt and water and ensures better durability and corrosion resistance. In addition, the space-saving and straightforward design save you hours of cleaning time. Conveyors are easy to take off for deep cleaning, and automatic wash is optional with internal nozzles.
It takes under 5 minutes to clean the whole machine from being stained to shining and spotless. Consumers are now increasingly aware of food businesses' requirements and the processes needed to produce safe and suitable products. Not only will consumers question poor food handling and hygiene practices, but they are also more likely to return to clean, well-maintained premises. With the simplicity of the machinery, modern technology, and food-grade materials, Vélfag ensures the material flows smoothly through the shortest period with the highest quality and hygiene standards possible for safe and wholesome fish production. Increased hygiene reduces microbial formation, ensures the quality of raw materials, decreases bacterial growth, and prolongs shelf life.  Vélfag would like to congratulate Krossfiskur ehf on their new M700 filleting machine.
Krossfiskur is one of Iceland's processing plants located in Stokkseyri, south Iceland. The M700 has a proven record of maximum durability, minimum need for maintenance, increased yield and profitability. Vélfag completed delivery and startup this month, and we are very excited to have you on the team! |