CEO Doug Paulin: Sealord is the last significant supplier of frozen coated fish products manufactured in New Zealand.
One of the largest seafood companies in the Southern Hemisphere, Sealord, has announced the opening of a consultation on a proposal to close the coated products factory in Nelson, a city located on the South Island of New Zealand.
The consultation, which will remain open until September 26, affects 79 permanent roles, including 57 roles at the coated products factory and 22 roles in management or office-based positions. In contrast, the proposals do not affect Sealord's deep-sea fishing operations, nor its operating model for canned tuna products.
Regarding the reasons behind this decision, Sealord's CEO, Doug Paulin, explained: "Increasing operating costs, particularly labour and electricity, plus freight, exacerbated by requests for higher supermarket margins, means we must reconsider the way we manage our retail frozen branded business."
Additionally, the New Zealand-based company wants to make changes to the Nelson Site Collective Agreement, which covers unionized workers in the land-based operations, including its wetfish factory, cold store, dry store, and by-products plant.
Finally, Sealord is considering the option of processing and packaging coated products outside of New Zealand to continue offering its range of frozen coated fish on the mainland.
In 2023, the company announced the purchase of the privately held Independent Fisheries, which would become the largest financial transaction in the seafood sector since the Sealord deal in 1992, a transaction that was part of the Māori Treaty Agreement.