Ålesund, Norway-based Nor Seafoods was founded in 1998 with two people selling whitefish into the Chinese market. Twenty years later, it has 60 employees and annual turnover of around EUR 200 million (USD 221 million).
Nor Seafoods Sales Manager Bodil Utvik Lynge was one of those original two employees. The company has grown thanks to part-ownership from the Holmøy Group, which purchased a 50 percent stake in the company in 2017. Nor Seafoods sells fresh and frozen whitefish from Holmøy’s four trawlers in northern Norway. Nor Seafoods has also formed a partnership with Eidsfjord Sjøfarm to sell its salmon in international markets.
The growth has not come without hiccups. First, there was China’s effective ban on Norwegian seafood in 2010, in response to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese human rights activist. That market has since reopened and has become a key component of Nor Seafoods business, Utvik Lynge said. And in 2022, it lost another of its major markets after Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in Norwegian sanctions.
“It’s tough, but you don’t really have a choice,” Utvik Lynge said. “You just have to figure it out.”
Besides China, the U.K. is Nor Seafoods’ other biggest market, and Southeast Asia has grown quickly too, according to Utvik Lynge.
“China has been challenging for the last few years with Covid, but it has been a growing business,” she said. “A few years ago, everyone was saying Europe would be taking the production back from China, but to replace what they do over there, it takes a long time. It would be more convenient for us if we could sell more into Europe, of course, but production capacity in Europe is still not there. And I know that the there is a struggle with the yields compared to the Chinese. But on the other hand, you know, you ship the goods over to China and it takes three to six months before they come back.”
Most of the raw material Nor Seafoods sends to China ends up back in Europe or North America after it is processed, but Utvik Lynge said an increasing amount …
Photo by Cliff White/SeafoodSource
