Royal Greenland’s board has fired Susanne Arfelt Rajamand after just over two years with the company.
Rajamand was named CEO of Royal Greenland in November 2022, and began the position on 1 February, 2023. Since that time, the company has had a string of poor performances, including a DKK 255 million (USD 35 million, EUR 34 million) loss in 2023 which Royal Greenland Chair Maliina Abelsen called “one of the most challenging in our long history.”
The company’s H1 2024 results were also negative, with net profit for the period sitting at a loss of DKK 74 million (USD 10.2 million, EUR 9.9 million). The company cited stagnant to low growth in Europe, a difficult market in the U.K. due to the consequences of Brexit, low growth in Asia, and higher costs as some of the reasons for its downturn.
“Over the past two years, Royal Greenland has faced challenges in several areas,” a statement from the board said. “At this time, the board of directors has unanimously concluded that the company requires a CEO with a different profile.”
At the time of her hiring, Abelsen said Rajamand “has the profile, the international experience, and the personality needed to lead the country's most-important company.”
Rajamand came into the seafood industry with outside experience from consumer goods company Unilever and dairy co-op Fonterra. She told SeafoodSource in 2023 that the transition was smooth thanks to Royal Greenland’s existing strategies which yielded positive results.
“It’s been a busy period, as you can imagine – coming into Royal Greenland from outside this industry and getting to understand seafood, getting close to our senior and middle management and also many of our customers,” she said at the time.
In May 2024, Rajamand told SeafoodSource that the company was undergoing a review process, and that it was feeling the effects of inflation on its business. Part of that would be a return to focus on its core species and footprints, and looking at how to “get more out of where we are already deeply invested.”
Current Royal Greenland Board Member Preben Sunke will serve as the interim CEO until a new one is selected.
