Due to lower revenue and increased costs in 2024, Norwegian salmon-farming firm Kvarøy Arctic has laid off some of its U.S. employees, including executives.
On 20 January, the company laid off Chris Cumming, who had served as vice president of sales since 2021, along with Midwest Regional Sales Manager Arnie Dzelzkalns.
This followed similar moves the company made in April 2024, when it laid off former Chief Marketing Officer Jennifer Bushman and former U.S. Retail Sales Manager Cristi Dorry.
“We have had to lay some people off – not because they didn’t perform [but] because we needed to adjust the cost of running the company to the revenue and sales,” Alf-Goran Knutsen, the CEO of Kvarøy Arctic’s parent company Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett, told SeafoodSource. “It is never fun to have to lay off people, especially good people. The salespeople we had to let go I’m sure will get another job, but it would have been better to keep them. I wish them the best wherever they end up.”
Cumming said he is optimistic about obtaining future sales and brand development positions in the seafood industry.
“I have a pretty good track record of helping brands grow their sales. I have been in the food business for 25 years now … and my past three positions have been in aquaculture,” he said.
Bushman co-founded and is still an executive director at San Francisco, California, U.S.A.-based nonprofit Fed by Blue, which is dedicated to driving awareness and action in supporting a responsible blue food system. She is also the director of sustainability at California restaurant chain Pacific Catch.
Dorry founded seafood consultancy firm Cristi Dorry Consulting, which, among other services, assists global seafood suppliers entering the U.S. retail market with a specific focus on the Mid-Atlantic region of the country.
The decision to lay off staff partly due to Kvarøy posting a NOK 122 million (USD 10.8 million, EUR 10.4 million) loss in 2023, according to earnings posted in Norway’s Bronnoysund Register Center.
During the period, net sales soared NOK 482.4 million (USD 42.8 million, EUR 41 million) to NOK 706.2 million (USD 63 million, EUR 60 million), but expenses nearly doubled, rising from NOK 297 million (USD 26 million, EUR 25 million) in 2022 to NOK 510 million (USD 45 million, EUR 43 million).
Knutsen said that 2024 was better for the firm but that Kvarøy still posted losses, resulting in the further layoffs.
“Numbers for 2024 are projected to be much better for the group but not good enough when you measure us against other farming companies. Again, some of the problem is the decline in sales volume,” he said. “For the farming operation, the problems have to do with biology and not being able to produce enough volume to cover the cost. Budgets for 2025 look much better, and hopefully we can turn it around.”
Kvarøy’s revenue sales drop can partially be attributed to the underperformance of its Salmon Hot Dogs, launched in 2020 in the U.S. market. Grocery chain Whole Foods Market recently dropped the hot dogs, Knutsen confirmed.
“They didn’t perform good enough in the stores to keep them, and that was a bit disappointing as … they are very good,” he said.
Kvarøy still carries the hot dogs as part of its assortment but is shifting its focus to new Salmon Nuggets, which will begin rolling out in March in Whole Foods stores.
“We are working to turn this around and get more sales volume so we can grow as a company again [and be] sustainable,” Knutsen said.
Additionally, the company is retailing its salmon fillets in Whole Foods and about 40 other retailers are carrying the product.
“So, it’s possible to buy our salmon almost all over the U.S., and we are constantly working on finding new customers and partners,” Knutsen said.
