A newly built mussel processing factory in the Western Bay of Plenty has become the largest processor of its kind in the world. General manager Steve Wells explains how his tiny factory is emerging as a major player in the global mussel industry.

In only five years a Tauranga based mussel factory has grown its capacity from a meagre 4000 tonnes to a site that has the largest half shell processing ability in the world.
Today it is capable of processing 30,000 tonnes and it is projected that in 3-4 years it will have the potential to provide export earnings of $74 million.
Based in the Tauranga suburb of Greerton, it started in 2005 as a joint venture between Greenshell New Zealand, Sanford Limited and Sealord.

Official opening
A new $23 million factory was recently added to the original site to boost its capacity and was officially opened in June by Prime Minister John Key.
The revamped factory incorporates revolutionary New Zealand technology that includes the world’s first automated mussel opening machine, which has tripled the factory’s capacity.
About 28 automated machines are installed there, with each processing up to 3600 mussels per hour, or 1.6 million mussels in 16 hours.
The new factory will take over the production of frozen half shell, using the existing 220 staff, but effectively doubling productivity.
About 220 staff, mainly seasonal workers, are currently employed, but an additional 15-20 seasonal jobs are expected to be created in November once the ‘value added processing’ is added to the old factory.
North Island Mussel Processing Limited (NIMPL) general manager Steve Wells says the expansion was needed because New Zealand’s mussel farming is growing considerably.
“We needed to keep up with the on-water development in aquaculture. Farming was outgrowing processing capacity in the North Island,” says Steve.
NIMPL only processes green shell mussels harnessed from growing areas in the Coromandel.
In 2008, green shell mussels accounted for 77 per cent of New Zealand’s total aquaculture exports and earned the country $204 million.
The USA is the biggest market for NIMPL’s mussels, which are also exported to Asia and Europe.
Steve says when the joint venture partners purchased the existing mussel processing factory it only processed 4000 tonnes of mussels a year.  
A year later, mussel capacity had doubled to 8000 tonnes and then to 10,000 tonnes, before the new factory tripled capacity to its current status.
In the past 30 years, New Zealand’s aquaculture industry has grown to a value of $360 million, but the government wants it to grow to $1 billion by 2025.
“If we work together with government and the government supports those initiatives, then we are all looking good for the future.”
NIMPL do not own the raw material or the finished product, but earn revenue from a toll charge for processing.
“We estimate the value of the plant’s output, in three to five years, at its maximum capacity, would be around $74 million dollars annually, based on the current exchange rate of the US dollar,” says Steve.

Automated opening
Steve would not reveal the value of the automated mussel opening machines, but says it was developed in New Zealand with Sanford Limited and Industrial Research Limited.  
Sanford holds the patent for the machine, which is patented in a number of countries around the world.
It uses camera and shape recognition software. The information from the camera is used to re-orientate the mussel to its correct position before being opened by an automated knife system.
“What the machine does is it adapts most of the automated mechanical methods used by a human to open a mussel,” says Steve.

Green shell mussel facts
•  Green shell mussels are native to New Zealand
•  A typical green shell mussel filters 360 litres of water each day to source food from the ocean
•  The mussel can grow to market size in 12-18 months
•  Green shell grow in temperatures 12-24C, but thrive at a temperature of 16-19C
•  About 22 per cent of New Zealand’s total green shell exports are grown in the Coromandel