Academy and branding on agenda for coming years
Urk Seafood, the Urk Fish Wholesalers Association’s label for education and branding, was scrutinized last Thursday by some 15 companies in the Urk seafood industry. The VVU wants to move forward with the label and had invited several people to spar about the possibilities of rolling out Urk Seafood in the coming years.
In 2021, the label launched the development of an Urk Seafood Academy, aimed specifically at a training program for the fish processing industry. With a subsidy of over 120,000 euros from MKB !Dee, an initiative from the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate and Social Affairs and Employment to stimulate the development of employees, the Academy, supported by ROC Firda, got off to a flying start in Urk in 2022. Program manager Rein Brands about it: ,,By now, many dozens of employees have successfully completed various courses. We used the meeting to get more information from the companies about what is still needed in terms of training. Firda was also present so that we can immediately do something with it in the education offered.
Funding
The international branding of Urk Seafood as a brand was also examined during a brainstorming session with SPIKKER and Hendrik van Veen of Diepvries Urk as moderator. Urk Seafood has recently become increasingly outspoken, including promotional material at the Seafood Expo in Barcelona and through advertising on trucks.
,,We have received a lot of input from the companies and we want to translate this into concrete actions. Of course, funding for these programs is also very important; the nearly twenty members of Urk Seafood all contribute annually, but that’s not enough. Fortunately, the Municipality of Urk also sees the importance of Urk Seafood and is working with us to support the cluster financially. There are also subsidies at the provincial level where we think our label fits in well, aimed at internationalization ambitions.”
