Captain Fresh, the Indian seafood processor, has struck a deal to acquire Spanish tuna company Frime.
The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.
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Frime has roots going back to 1937 in Barcelona’s La Boqueria Market, founded by Jesús Ramon Gómez, with his son Salvador Ramon Gràcia officially establishing the brand in 1977.
When approached by Just Food for details on the specific assets involved in the deal, Captain Fresh declined to comment.
The completion of the Frime deal is contingent on regulatory approvals and the fulfilment of standard closing conditions.
“Once the transaction is completed we’ll be better placed to share our official comments,” added the yellowfin tuna specialist.
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By GlobalDataHowever, in a statement, Captain Fresh described the acquisition as a “watershed moment” in its trajectory, “unlocking immediate Mediterranean dominance”.
In January, CEO Utham Gowda told Just Food the US and Europe remain the company’s most important markets and would continue to be so in the next three to four years.
“We are not looking to enter any new markets. We are going deeper into the existing markets.”
“When I say deeper, we will be unlocking a few more channels in the current, existing markets. We are very strong on the foodservice trend in the US, we are looking to unlock the retail channel,” he said at the time.
Captain Fresh maintains a presence in Europe through its subsidiaries Senecrus and Koral, operating two seafood processing facilities.
Koral, based in Kukinia, Poland, specialises in smoked fish production, with a focus on cold- and hot-smoked salmon.
It handles a broad range of fish products, such as Norwegian smoked salmon and various seafood items. It supplies retailers in Poland and Germany.
Captain Fresh acquired Koral in July last year from private-equity firm Abris Capital Partners.
As part of that deal, the Warsaw-based investor acquired an undisclosed stake in Captain Fresh, a supplier of shellfish and fish varieties like salmon and tuna to retailers across Asia, Europe, and North America.
Senecrus, headquartered in Rungis, France, focuses on producing and distributing cooked shrimp.
It processes farm-raised Vannamei shrimp sourced from Central America and Asia, maintaining ties with supermarkets and wholesalers throughout France.
Founded in 2020 in the Indian city of Bengaluru, Captain Fresh initially operated as a technology-driven platform offering digital tools for the fish and seafood supply chain.
In recent years, it has expanded by developing its own branded portfolio of products, including shrimp, salmon, crab and lobster, supported by acquisitions such as CenSea, Senecrus, and Koral.
In February, CenSea, a group company of Captain Fresh, acquired Ocean Garden for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition united two US seafood importers and distributors: Illinois-based CenSea, known for supplying Asian shrimp and a range of seafood products, and California’s Ocean Garden, which specialises in Mexican and Ecuadorian shrimp.
The deal expanded CenSea’s portfolio to include brands such as Ocean Garden, Compass, Asian Garden and Pride of Mexico.
