Thai Union expands footprint in Ghana with cold store to strengthen supply chain

TEMA (Ghana) - July 25, 2024 - On Thursday, July 18, Thai Union officially opened its new, 8,000-metric-ton cold store for its Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC) factory. Located in Tema near PFC's manufacturing plant, the cold store will ensure year-round temperature-controlled storage of Atlantic tuna for the factory, further strengthening the resilience of its supply chain and Thai Union's manufacturing footprint.

Pioneer Food Cannery's new cold store is located in Tema near its manufacturing plant.

Thiraphong Chansiri, President and CEO of Thai Union Group, underlining that Thai Union will further invest into its facilities in Ghana.

Johnny Ladouce, Plant Director for PFC, highlighted that the PFC factory with its 1,100 people manufactures products for market-leading brands across Europe.

Thiraphong Chansiri cutting the ribbon and officially inaugurating Pioneer Food Cannery's cold store Tema, Ghana.

Samuel N. K. Quartey, Executive Advisor to the Minister of Fisheries, Honourable Ashai Odampten, Member of Parliament for the Tema East Constituency, Thiraphong Chansiri, President and CEO of Thai Union Group, Abdul-Aziz Musah, Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Johnny Ladouce Plant Director for PFC (from left to right)

The cold store with its four storage halls and sorting and sizing facility is already in full operation. The USD 14 million investment will enable Thai Union and PFC to load their factory with the necessary volumes to produce throughout the year by vertically integrating and streamlining its supply chain, therefore improving the factory's performance and yield.

Johnny Ladouce, Plant Director for PFC, said: "Thanks to our new cold store we will cut traffic and CO₂ emissions while ensuring we can produce throughout the year and independent of fluctuating fish supply. We are committed to Ghana and the communities we operate in by providing both direct and indirect jobs here in Tema."

Thiraphong Chansiri, President and CEO of Thai Union Group, said: "Our PFC factory plays a vital role for our brands across Europe and the U.S. This investment will further improve our supply security and competitiveness serving our customers. The next investments into PFC will be delivering towards our SeaChange^® 2030 sustainability plan, such as further lowering their emissions by installing solar panels and implementing measures to minimize waste to landfill, water discharge, and food loss."

The cold store replaces PFC's previous solution of using rented cold storage spaces scattered across the city. This new system allows the company to save on rental costs, reduce the number of truck trips needed to transport raw products between facilities, and maintain full control over product quality, as everything is processed in-house from storage to shipment, thereby further enhancing PFC's competitiveness.

Operating since 1973 and acquired by Thai Union in 2010, PFC is the Group's second-largest factory in Africa and employs approximately 1,100 people. PFC manufactures products for the Group's market-leading international brands such as John West (no. 1 in the UK and in the Netherlands), Petit Navire (no. 1 in France), MareBlu (no. 2 in Italy), private-label customers across Europe - and the factory's own market leader and the epitome of ambient tuna in Ghana, Starkist.

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About Thai Union

Thai Union Group PCL is the world's seafood leader, bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for 47 years.

Today, Thai Union is regarded as one of the world's leading seafood producers and is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 136.2 billion (US$ 3,912 billion) and a global workforce of more than 44,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.

The Company's global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, Hawesta, and Rügen Fisch, Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, OMG Meat, Bellotta and Marvo, and ingredient and supplement brands UniQ®BONE, UniQ®DHA and ZEAvita.

With a commitment to "Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans," Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a founding participating company of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and current Chair of Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS).

Thai Union's ongoing leadership in sustainability has been taken to the next level with the announcement of SeaChange^® 2030, the Company's expanded sustainability strategy with more ambitious goals for people and planet. Through SeaChange^®, the Company was recognized and listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the 10th consecutive year in 2023, ranked number one on the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI) for the third consecutive time, listed in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2024, achieved a B rating from global environmental disclosure non-profit CDP, and was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the ninth straight year in 2024. Find out more about the Group's sustainability strategy at seachangesustainability.org

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