Marine Harvest is to create 260 new jobs in Fife after winning a major salmon processing contract from supermarket giant Sainsbury.
Production at Marine Harvest’s purpose-built processing plant at Admiralty Park in Rosyth will increase five-fold from November.
The facility employs 90 staff but that figure is set to swell to around 350 by the end of the year as Marine Harvest increase their production capacity.
“This is excellent news for the company as well as for Rosyth and will mean significant expansion for the plant and more local jobs for the area,” said Andy Stapley, managing director of Marine Harvest Consumer Products.
“This latest contract builds on the strong relationship Marine Harvest has established with Sainsbury’s over many years and is part of the company’s strategy to manage the entire food production process from farm to fork.”
The deal follows a tender process and will involve Marine Harvest which is already an established supplier to Sainsbury’s from the provision of the fish to filleting, processing and packing.
Current supplier Young’s is now assessing what impact the loss of work will have on its operations.
Unions warned more than 300 jobs could go at the firm’s facilities at Fraserburgh and Grimsby.
Sainsbury’s did not comment on the commercial value of the contract to Marine Harvest or its duration.
A spokesman for the supermarket said: “We have been carrying out a thorough review of our Scottish salmon suppliers to ensure we can offer our customers the best products possible.
“As a result of the supplier tender, we have given advance notice to Young’s Seafood that they will no longer pack and process salmon products for us.”
The 200,000 square feet Fife plant was acquired by Marine Harvest as part of its purchase of Morpol.
Fife Council depute leader Councillor Lesley Laird said: “This announcement will open up further employment opportunities for local people and I am sure that will be very much welcomed.
“We have worked closely with Marine Harvest in the last few years helping them establish their Fife facility and today’s announcement marks another significant milestone.
“Our Opportunities Fife team will continue to work directly with the company and have already been very successful in supporting local people take advantage of any potential job opportunities.”