Johan Kvalheim has resigned as Managing Director of the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) and will take up the position of director of Japan and South Korea with the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
The seafood business conference has started the process of recruiting a new managing director, with NASF Chairman Henning Lund expecting to complete the process in advance of Kvalheim’s departure and by 31 December at the latest.
Until an appointment is made, Kvalheim will continue planning the 16th edition of NASF, which is scheduled to take place in Bergen between 9 and 11 March 2021.
Despite uncertainty around COVID-19, this year’s conference went ahead as planned across three days in early March. NASF was established by Lund in 2005, and the conference mainly focuses on salmon, whitefish, and pelagic species and covering technology, innovation, sustainability, as well as finance and investment opportunities within the industry.
Kvalheim has previously worked for the NSC, with six years as director for France and a previous stint in the United Kingdom. He took up his position with the NASF in June 2019. Previous roles include CEO of aquaculture vaccine company MSD Animal Health Norway and being part of the start-up business Star Seafood.
His return to the NSC will see him take over from the current envoy to Japan and South Korea, Gunvar Wie.
According to the NSC, South Korea was the most stable market in Asia for Norway’s seafood exporters throughout the first half of 2020. A value growth of 11 percent took total exports to NOK 1.1 billion (USD 116.4 million, EUR 103.3 million).
“Norwegian salmon has a market share in South Korea of more than 80 percent, and most of this is eaten in restaurants,” Wie said. “However, we now see a clear shift in the consumer market where more and more people order their food online and eat it at home for fear of [coronavirus] infection. Salmon sales to the hotel and restaurant industry are declining, while grocery retail sales are growing sharply.”
Meanwhile, Japan has proved to be a very strong market for Norwegian mackerel this year, with volume and value growths of 44 percent and 46 percent, respectively.
Overall, Norway’s seafood exporters achieved a record NOK 52.9 billion (USD 5.6 billion, EUR 5 billion) in overseas sales in the first half of this year, thanks largely to a weak Norwegian kroner.
Photo courtesy of Johan Kvalheim/Twitter
