Paul Jewer believes it’s time for North Americans to eat more seafood.
“In North America, seafood is significantly underconsumed,” he tells The CEO Magazine. Norwegians, for example, consume twice as much seafood per capita as Americans and Canadians, he says.
As CEO of Nova Scotia-headquartered frozen fish processor High Liner Foods, he appreciates the opportunity this presents for the company – and the industry overall, particularly when considering all the benefits of seafood.
“It’s a category that is still ripe for growth. Everyone recognizes that seafood is a great protein and has health benefits,” he explains.
“It’s also one of the most sustainable protein options available for people, often with a much lower impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Everyone recognizes that seafood is a great protein and has health benefits.”
Jewer knows, however, that the onus is on businesses like his to encourage consumers to buy and eat more seafood.
“Most people aren’t as familiar with seafood as they are with other proteins in North America, so making it more convenient for them to feed their families with seafood is something we are focused on,” he reveals.
Much of that convenience is driven by what Jewer describes as High Liner Foods’ ‘value-adds’: coating and breading, marinating and seasoning, as well as ready-to-eat meals.
“The other thing that we’re very focused on is making sure we deliver value to customers because seafood is an expensive protein,” he acknowledges.
“For many years we owned vessels, owned quota and co-owned fish.”
An important way for High Liner Foods to achieve this is by finding less expensive species from around the world that deliver the flavor and health profile customers are after at a more affordable price point than species they are perhaps more familiar with.
One such example is Cape Hake from South Africa, a species the company has recently introduced to the market.
“Cape Hake is a great white fish and more affordable than cod or haddock these days,” Jewer explains.
Investing in the future
More than recognizing the growth opportunity, Jewer says that High Liner Foods is heavily investing in it through its three North American plants as well as investments in aquaculture companies.
The move into fish farming is an important step for the 125-year-old business, which has, through most of its history, focused on wild-caught fisheries.
“For many years we owned vessels, owned quota and co-owned fish,” he says.
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When the moratorium on cod fishing hit the north-east coast of Canada in 1992, its supply evaporated overnight.
“The company did a wonderful job of finding a supply around the world, primarily in wild-caught fish. And it invested a lot of time in making these fisheries sustainable,” he adds.
As demand for seafood increases, Jewer understands that aquaculture needs to be part of the solution.
“We have a number of aquaculture species in our portfolio, including Atlantic salmon, shrimp and tilapia,” he notes.
“We have a number of aquaculture species in our portfolio, including Atlantic salmon, shrimp and tilapia.”
Shrimp and tilapia are purchased from partners who, he says, do a great job of sustainably growing the product. For salmon and increasingly cod, the question Jewer and his team have asked is, where should High Liner Foods play?
In 2024, the company made strategic investments in Norwegian cod farming company Norcod, as well as Andfjord Salmon Group, a land-based salmon company in the Arctic archipelago of Vesterålen, Norway. It recently participated in additional rounds of financing for both companies.
“As technology and innovation continue to evolve, land-based farming will become a model that can be competitive from a cost perspective with existing net-pen salmon farming,” Jewer says.
A focus on what it knows
Beyond being the leading frozen seafood brand in Canada, with its eponymous High Liner Foods brand one of the most familiar sights in freezers in grocery stores across the country, the company also holds a strong market share in the United States.
Other labels include Mrs. Paul’s, Van de Kamp’s, Fisher Boy, Sea Cuisine and C.Wirthy & Co Premium Seafood. It is also working with several retailers in the United States on their private-label programs.
Aside from retail, key business units supply food service companies like Sodexo, Compass Group and Aramark, as well as the restaurant business and casual dining chains like McDonald’s.
Founded in 1899, High Liner Foods’ expertise in seafood is one of the factors that sets it apart in the market, according to Jewer.
“We are not a company that covers the entire food spectrum,” he says. “We focus on what we know and, as a result, we think we can source better than most.”
“We focus on what we know and, as a result, we think we can source better than most.”
While the company once caught its fish, today it works with key global partners like Denmark’s Sirena Group to ensure that raw material is processed to its quality and specifications (particularly in terms of sustainability and traceability) before it comes to North America, where the value-add occurs in its plants.
What also gives High Liner Foods the leading edge is its size: it’s a billion-dollar, publicly traded company.
“That might not seem big compared to many industries, but in seafood it is big,” Jewer points out.
“We feel passionate about the fact that if we drive more seafood consumption, it’s good for people and the planet.”
As he looks forward, Jewer appreciates that as one of the larger players in the industry, High Liner Foods is well-positioned to support what he believes is a need for more consolidation in the seafood space.
“When you think about chicken or beef, the companies we compete with are much larger than most seafood companies,” he says.
At the other end of the scale, the company’s customers, along with supermarkets and distributors like US Foods, aren’t getting any smaller either.
“We think there are ways, particularly through mergers and acquisitions, that we can continue to support scaling up and put ourselves in a stronger position to compete not just within seafood, but also with other proteins for a share of our customers’ stomachs,” he says.
“Because you know what? We feel passionate about the fact that if we drive more seafood consumption, it’s good for people and the planet.”
