The lead partner is Finnish seafood processor and long-time collaborator Kalavapriikki, which has licensed Hailia’s technology. While the products are marketed under the Kalavapriikki brand, they are currently manufactured by Hailia and are already available on the market.
The two Finnish firms are joined by Dana Technology, a Danish engineering company that has developed and owns the intellectual property (IP) for novel processing machinery, as a strategic technology provider. Hailia holds exclusive rights to use the technology in seafood applications.
The partnership is a part of a broader €1.75 million investment round, which includes new investors Holdix and Ikorni Invest, alongside a syndicate of returning and new investors.
Hailia says that is technology transforms underutilised fish raw materials, such as filleting sidestreams, into easy-to-use fish products with a texture and mouthfeel similar to cooked fish fillets.
© Hailia
The company launched its first commercially available product, “pulled rainbow trout,” with Kalavapriikki and Finnish supermarket leader S-Group in September 2024. The same year, the company also launched products available to food service and industrial kitchens in collaboration with fish processor Hätälä. The new partnership commits the entire supply chain, from equipment production to end customers, to ensuring Hailia’s further growth. The company is already in talks with several global producers of salmonoids, pelagics, and whitefish for licensing its technology.
“Using sidestreams for human food used to be a nice-to-have, but now it’s an industry must-have. Comparing conversations with processors at trade shows last year to this year, we see a huge uptick in interest, not for the future but for right now. Having Kalavapriikki and Dana Technology invested in our future gives us the confidence and means to seize these opportunities that we already know are there,” said Michaela Lindström, CEO of Hailia, in a press release.
Hailia’s vision is to become the global standard for the seafood industry. The world’s seafood consumption is expected to increase by 50 percent by 2050, underscoring a clear need for new low-carbon protein sources. To meet the demand, the seafood industry is scrambling to improve its resource efficiency. Sidestreams have primarily been utilised for animal feed, oils, or health products, but using 20-40% more of the fish for human consumption is a significant step towards meeting rising demand and introducing new and healthy food products to consumers.
“We have seen the impact of Hailia’s technology in our own production. Not only are we using more of the fish and reducing our carbon footprint, but we are also able to create completely new products for our customers. We believe this technology is the future of fish processing, and we were never in doubt about wanting to be an active part of that journey,” said Jari Korhonen, CEO of Kalavapriikki.
Hailia’s licensing model gives fish processors access to its technology and equipment at their own production sites. With the investment and partnership with engineering partner Dana Technology, Hailia is able to expand its global reach, further develop its technology, and cater to the needs of food producers worldwide.
