Young's ‘in talks with Norwegian salmon supplier’

YOUNG’S has remained silent on reports from Norway that it is negotiating a large scale deal with a well known Nordic supplier to buy salmon and white fish.
The industry website ilaks.no said that representatives from the Norwegian Fish Company had visited a number of seafood companies in the UK recently, including the Young’s head office in Grimsby.
Its chief executive, Jørn-Gunnar Jacobsen, told Ilaks that it was looking for new business in Britain, where it sees promising opportunities.
He added that Young’s was responsible for 40 per cent of the fish consumed in the UK and was one of the largest users of farmed salmon in Europe. He said that Young’s had responded positively to the approaches.
The next step, said Jacobsen, was to invite large UK purchasers such as Young’s to visit the Norwegian Fish Company’s facilities in Norway, where it could show off its modern factories and its latest technology.
Interestingly, Jacobsen was the senior figure at Findus when it was part of the same group as Young’s and before it was sold to Nomad Foods.
He also said he was talking to other UK seafood companies to sell them salmon and had received inquiries from the United States, as well.
The Norwegian Fish was set up in March 2017 by a group of entrepreneurs with extensive experience in seafood production and in the retail and food service sectors.
Based in Gamvik, which is also the name of its brand, the company processes and packs salmon from local farms and Norwegian caught white fish, such as cod and saithe.
It states on its website: ‘Our clear intention is to expand with more production units, and a wider range of products.\’
Fish Update has asked Young’s for a comment on the report but is still awaiting a reply.
Picture: Jørn-Gunnar Jacobsen