Clean Seas Seafood, which has taken a huge financial hit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now supplying its South Australian kingfish to use in U.S. meal kits.
The meal kit business came about after Ålesund, Norway-based Hofseth Group invested AUD 5 million (USD 3.6 million, EUR 3 million) in Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia-based Clean Seas in April.
The investment gave Hofseth and investment partner Nevera AG 10 million shares in the company, amounting to 9.7 percent stake of Clean Seas’ ordinary share capita.
The meal kit deal provides some positive news for the Kingfish farmer, which suffered an AUD 14.4 million (USD 10.3 million, EUR 8.7 million) loss for its 2019-2020 fiscal year. It also recently announced that CEO David Head was departing after almost five years with Clean Seas.
The targeted North American launch will start with “leading home meal-kit customers, a major big box retail chain and a national supermarket,” the company said in a press release.
Clean Seas received an order from Hofseth North America for 150 tons of Kingfish to be sold in September. It expects the orders to increase to about 250 tons by the end of December, ahead of a wider rollout in 2021.
“We are very excited to be launching Clean Seas premium-quality and sustainably-sourced kingfish into these major markets, and see this announcement as a significant step towards a wider opportunity in the North American market,” Hofseth North America Managing Director Matt Mixter said.
The high-end Australian kingfish is “very complementary to the existing Hofseth portfolio offering,” Mixter added. Hofseth supplies more than 20,000 tons of fish across 10 different species to North American businesses annually.
Clean Seas told the Australia Securities Exchange last week it would use stock surpluses from restaurant closures globally due to COVID-19 to drive trials and target long-term growth in North America, “a significant market where Cleans Seas has historically had a limited presence in retail,” Clean Seas said.
“It is the company’s view that whilst the ongoing COVID-19 disruptions will continue over the coming months, the planned entry into retail product distribution is expected to deliver long-term growth from channel diversification that will complement Clean Seas’ existing restaurant and premium food service business,” it said in its 23 September statement to the ASX.
North America and Asia represent the largest and fastest-growing markets globally for kingfish, according to Clean Seas.
As a result, Clean Seas recently formed a sales, marketing, and distribution agreement with Hofseth Asia, which covers Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Photo courtesy of Clean Seas Seafood
