Spanish Seafood Company Sets Feet in The Gambia to Access “Raw Material”

A Spanish seafood company, Congelados Maravilla SA has announced that it has secured a contract to establish a subsidiary company in The Gambia to directly access the raw materials it transforms and sells in the European Union market.

In a statement published Tuesday, the company says “we are creating our own subsidiary of Congelados Maravilla SA in Gambia (Maravilla of Gambia), where we plan to produce and export to Europe“.

The Spanish seafood company says it expects to export in the first year, at least, “more than 100 containers, mainly octopus, choco, squid and fillets of various fish.”

It’s not sure that President Barrow’s recent promise in his “Meet the Peoples’ Tour” to create hundreds of jobs in the fishing sector found their origine from the premise of his knowledge about the establishment of Congelados Maravilla SA. In its current set up, the Spanish company only employs a little close to 100 people in the handling of products.

Initially, Congelados Maravilla imports, elaborate and distribute swordfish, yellowfin tuna, mako, caella, merlin, escolar, lampuga, Argentine shrimp, Norway lobster, octopus, squid, cuttlefish, mongo and sole among others.

But the company has recently developed a new business model that is focused on investment efforts with the new contracts obtained in The Gambia and Mauritania. The idea is to directly access the raw material from Gambian waters and consequently cut the cost of seafood imports.

“We believe that direct access to areas where raw materials are caught, the engine of all our industry and commerce, is the most important thing” the company’s statement explains.

Congelados Maravilla SA is a family business owned by the Spanish Mellino family founded in Vigo in 2000. The estimated turnover for 2021 exceeds 55M euros. The company’s main market is the European Union.

Meanwhile, Congelados Maravilla SA says all the works in The Gambia and Mauritania will be carried out by highly qualified personnel and supervised by its Vigo plant personnel.