Premium Brands Holdings Corporation posted record revenue and EBITDA in Q3 2025, but its seafood subsidiary Clearwater continued its down performance.
Premium Brands posted total revenue of CAD 2 billion (USD 1.4 billion, EUR 1.2 billion), marking a 19.1 percent, or CAD 319 million (USD 227 million, EUR 195 million), increase over Q3 2024. That revenue was on the back of an organic volume growth rate of 10 percent, with its Specialty Foods division seeing an organic volume growth rate of 24.3 percent.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA also increased in Q3 2025, rising to CAD 179.1 million (USD 127.6 million, EUR 109.6 million), marking a 12.4 percent, or CAD 19.7 million (USD 14 million, EUR 12 million), increase over the same period of 2024. The company said it achieved the increase even as inflation caused higher protein costs.
While the company’s revenue and EBITDA increased, Premium Brands CEO George Paleologou warned it came despite current market conditions.
“The North American food industry is undergoing significant disruption and is at a major inflection point as consumers shift to choosing foods with clean, wholesome protein-centric ingredients and reduce or eliminate their consumption of ultra-processed foods high in sugars and unhealthy fats, as well as artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives,” he said.
Paleologou said the company has invested R&D and product development to cater to these shifting consumer preferences.
“We are still in the early innings of this disruption and expect our sales growth to continue to accelerate in the coming quarters and years,” he said.
The record EBITDA also came despite lower margins for the company. Paleologou said double-digit cost inflation has hit key ingredients, as its North American cattle herd reaches near-historic lows and imports from other countries face issues including tariff challenges.
In contrast, Premium Brands CFO Will Kalutycz said the company’s Canadian protein and seafood distribution business helped contribute to the company’s organic volume growth.
“An increase in lobster product revenue from certain sales normally occurring in the second quarter being pushed to the third quarter also contributed to our organic volume growth,” Kalutycz said.
Premium Brands showed no change in potential acquisition opportunities in seafood companies and said it continues to be in negotiations for a seafood company that it said has CAD 500 million (USD 356 million, EUR 306 million) in annual sales, as well as “in discussions” with a seafood company with CAD 70 million (USD 50 million, EUR 43 million) in sales – which is identical to the point it was at in Q2 2025.
“Although we did not close any acquisitions during the quarter, our acquisition pipeline remains full, and we’re involved in many active discussions with talented food entrepreneurs and legacy owners looking to join our unique ecosystem of best-in-class specialty food companies,” Paleologou said. “This is because they know that we will respect their legacies and company cultures and that we would take a long-term view in investing and managing our business.”
One such seafood company acquisition, Clearwater Seafoods, continued to struggle in Q3 2025. Premium Brands, alongside the Mi’kmaq First Nations Coalition, acquired Clearwater in November 2020. Premium Brands later granted the Mi’kmaq First Nations Coalition a larger share of Clearwater in 2023.
Clearwater has continued to post mixed results since that acquisition.
In 2024, it posted a CAD 62.8 million (USD 44.7 million, EUR 38.4 million) net loss in the 39 weeks ending 28 September 2024.
That result has worsened significantly in 2025, with the company posting a net loss of CAD 159.9 million (USD 113.9 million, EUR 97.9 million) in the same period of this year. In Q3 2025, the company posted revenue of CAD 127.1 million (USD 90.6 million, EUR 77.8 million), down from the CAD 154.1 million (USD 109.8 million, EUR 94.3 million) it posted in Q3 2024.
Clearwater’s net loss jumped in Q3 2025 to CAD 76.7 million (USD 54.6 million, EUR 46.9 million), worsening from the net loss of CAD 19.5 million (USD 13.9 million, EUR 11.9 million) it posted in Q3 2024. However, Premium said the company’s adjusted EBITDA increased by CAD 5.2 million (USD 3.7 million, EUR 3.2 million).
Premium Brands said the drop in revenue was mainly related to its sale of Macduff land-based operations. Clearwater confirmed it was selling Macduff Shellfish’s land-based processing operations in July and that it was entering a strategic alliance with Seafood Ecosse in the Macduff Shellfish business.
Premium Brands said Clearwater’s exit from inshore lobster operations and continued poor catch rates of Canadian sea scallops also contributed to the drop. However, those losses were partially offset by “strong recoveries in catch rates for clams, turbot, and shrimp” and selling price inflation.
