Heavyweight New Zealand fishing company looking to rebrand

One of New Zealand’s largest commercial fishing and aquaculture companies doesn’t want to be known as such for much longer.

Sanford Limited will be expanding its reputation as a food company rather than just a fishing and marine farming company in the quarters to come in an effort to satiate the changing needs of the seafood consumer market, according to the company’s recently appointed CEO Volker Kuntzsch.

“We are moving to being a food company rather than just a fishing and marine farming company and this comes from being focused firmly on what our customers want. Offering a growing share of our precious marine resources as high quality fresh seafood to an increasingly discerning customer base seeking product from sustainable sources is one of the elements that we define as adding value,” said Kuntzsch.

In its latest interim report for the six months ending on 31 March, Sanford recorded an 18.1 percent increase in its EBITDA, which rose to USD 33.9 million (EUR 31 million) from the USD 28.7 million (EUR 26.3 million) recorded during the same period last year. However, profitability was affected by one-off impairment charges in relation to Sanford’s fleet, plant and equipment at the Christchurch mussel processing plant. Additionally, net profits after tax were down 18.3 percent for the reporting period.

Despite these drawbacks, Kuntzsch perceives the report as satisfactory for the company, which has faced challenging conditions within the international marketplace.

“In particular, in the last three months of the period, we have seen improving results. The team has worked really hard to lift our revenue. Initially, the period was marked by lackluster sales for a few months, primarily due to weak currencies and political upheaval in some of our important export markets,” explained Kuntzsch.

Reduced sales were mostly attributed to reduced demand for Greenshell mussels across many regions and the lowest commodity prices for skipjack tuna in five years. And while demand for salmon was high in domestic markets, higher feed requirements by salmon stocks in the summer months lead to a rise in cost for Sanford during the relevant timeframe.

Recent investments in Sanford’s organizational structure and into innovation have Kuntzsch, who has been with the company for 18 months, looking up for the medium term: “Aligning ourselves with our customers’ needs and focusing on the delivery of the newly introduced planning and procurement functions has already delivered encouraging returns.”

“We think there is a shift amongst consumers from seeking convenience food to preparing quality fresh food and for us as a business that is fantastic news,” he concluded.

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