A few days ago, Peter Pan, one of Alaska's largest seafood processors, made headlines for troubling news regarding financial concerns and the loss of key employees. However, in a statement emailed to WeAreAquaculture, the company assures its financial situation "is very positive."
Peter Pan Seafood also notes that, over the past two years, it has expanded its domestic markets and fishing quota "at an unprecedented rate." Despite this, the company acknowledges that "this growth has come with unforeseen challenges."
In response to doubts about the company's financial stability, Peter Pan points out that it owns 100% of its assets and that it works with financial institutions to maintain day-to-day operations. Nevertheless, Alaska's seafood processor acknowledges that "due to current global conditions, one of these lenders recently decided to move away from the seafood sector." Despite this, it assures that it has secured "a new financial relationship" to allow the company to continue its operations.
"We are continuing to work on making improvements to our processes. We have made some modifications and automations at the plant level. We are working on cutting costs, efficiently staffing our facilities, and increasing our quality while we continue to add to capacity where we can," continues the company's statement. Moreover, looking ahead to the Bristol Bay season, Peter Pan says it expects to process and export the same capacities as in last summer's campaign, which was a record for the company. "We see a bright future ahead," it said.
As mentioned, another piece of news that went off alarm bells around the company's situation was the replacement of several members of the management team, which was still settling in after the appointment last November of Kevin Bixler as the new CEO. Especially striking was learning that Jon Hickman, president of Alaska operations, had left the company. He had been with Peter Pan for just over two years and had been one of the key appointments following the arrival of the current owners.
In his place, Peter Pan has appointed Traves Roenfanz as Vice President of Operations. The company notes now that Roenfanz is an experienced and knowledgeable professional with strong ties to the industry and the community, having worked in Bristol Bay since he was an undergraduate student in 1997. "From the boat yards in Egegik and Dillingham to production and plant management, he has worked for Peter Pan his whole career," the company points out.
Peter Pan Seafood Company, LLC is a vertically integrated seafood company that seeks to provide consumers around the world with healthy, sustainable seafood while supporting local fishing communities and preserving ocean ecosystems. Its primary revenues are derived from sales of canned, frozen and fresh salmon, king crab, bronze crab, Dungeness crab, halibut, Pacific cod, and Alaska pollock. The ownership group is Rodger May of Northwest Fish, the Na'-Nuk Investment Fund, LP (managed by McKinley Alaska Private Investment, LLC and McKinley Capital Management, LLC), and the RRG Global Partners Fund (managed by RRG Capital Management, LLC).
