Sofina Foods, the Canadian owner of processors Young’s Seafood in the UK and Greenland Seafood in Germany, has named William Duncanson chief operations officer (COO) of the group’s entire seafood operations. Duncanson, who will report to Young’s Seafood CEO Simon Smith, joined the company as operations director in 2019. Before this, he was part of 2 Sisters Food Group, Dawnfresh and Farne Seafoods.

This update entails a new management at Greenland Seafood, company’s Germany-based processing operation. Managing Director Allan Jensen quits his job and Yannick Allouchery, current managing director of the Gelmer site, takes on the role of operations director, Sofina announced.

New era

The designation involves the first major restructuring of Young’s since Sofina Foods’ acquisition of Young’s Seafood parent Eight Fifty Group in March of 2021. This deal situated UK’s largest seafood company under Canadian ownership.

After acquiring Eight Fifty, Sofina confirmed they more than doubled its number of sites to 44, and nearly tripled its total workforce to 13,000 people. Eight Fifty Food Group also acquired German frozen fish producer Greenland Seafood for an undisclosed amount in October 2020.

Sofina Foods Inc. is a privately owned Canadian company headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada dedicated to providing great-tasting, high-quality food products for consumers. The company currently operates 16 HACCP-approved manufacturing facilities, 2 distribution centres, 3 hatcheries and employs close to 5,000 people.