Norway-based cod-farming company Ode achieved a net profit in FY 2025 in what it said is a first for the industry globally.
Ode’s revenue hit NOK 877 million (USD 92 million, EUR 80 million) in 2025, which the company said is more than double the NOK 401 million (USD 42 million, EUR 36 million) it achieved in 2024. That significantly higher revenue helped it achieve a net profit in FY 2025 of NOK 66 million (USD 7 million, EUR 6 million), an improvement of NOK 301 million (USD 31 million, EUR 27 million).
According to Ode, it’s the first time a cod farming company has delivered profitable annual accounts.
“Although expected as part of our business plan, this is a major milestone for Ode, and I thank our employees, customers and partners for their contribution,” Ode CEO Ola Kvalheim said in a release. “Five years of significant investment in our organization, value chain and product offering – coupled with strong biology and consistently high quality – delivered both record revenue growth and profitability in 2025.”
Ode launched in 2020 and harvested its first batch of farm-raised cod in 2022. Their push into the industry was the first since cod farming was briefly attempted in the 2000s, but those early attempts ultimately ended up failing without ever achieving profitability.
The global marketplace for cod has changed drastically since the 2010s. Cod quotas have continued to drop, going from 885,600 MT available in the Barents Sea in 2021, to the Russian-Norwegian Arctic Fisheries Working Group determining the quota in 2026 should be no more than 269,550 MT, its lowest level in 30 years.
That huge drop in quota has lead to surging prices that have forced the whitefish industry to consider all options, including moving away from cod as a species. In 2024, Kvalheim told SeafoodSource during Seafood Expo North America that he predicted the company would be able to fill the supply gaps that lower quotas were leaving while the higher pricing made breaking even easier.
Just one year later, Kvalheim’s predictions of success came true. Ode saw a net profit, and an EBITDA of NOK 109 million (USD 11 million, EUR 10 million).
The company harvested 10,018 MT of head-on gutted cod in 2025, an increase of 110 percent over the 4,770 MT it harvested in 2024. That made up 65 percent of Norway’s total farmed cod production, and it also made up almost a third of the country’s combined export volume of fresh wild-caught and farmed cod.
“In 2025 we evolved from a fast-paced scale-up into a professionalized corporation – building the systems, structure and governance needed for continued growth – while keeping our passionate and ambitious start-up culture,” Kvalheim said. “In 2026, we are building further on this platform by investing heavily in becoming the most technologically advanced aquaculture business in the world.”
The company said since its founding it has grown to employ more than 300 people and increased its operations by 300 percent per year on average since 2022, with continued focus on building on that growth.
“Together with our partners, we build new demand every day through consistent quality, positive eating experiences and exciting product development,” Kvalheim said. “Satisfied customers, the right product mix and reliable supply growth will deliver long-term demand growth. The salmon industry has in many ways provided the blueprint for this journey – and we can learn from both their successes and their failures.”
