Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Marianne Sivertsen Næss cut the ribbon on 21 May at Ode's new office in Oslo.
Photo: Ode.
Ode has a new office in Oslo. At an opening ceremony held last week, attended by clients, partners, employees, and guests, Norway's Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy, Marianne Sivertsen Næss, cut the ribbon held by the two founders of the Norwegian cod farming company, Ola Kvalheim and Tor Olav Seim.
In its announcement about the opening, Ode said that, although the headquarters remains in Ålesund, close to operations and production, the presence in Oslo reduces the distance to key decision-making environments.
Thus, the new office, with capacity for more than 20 employees, will house staff working in sales, marketing, public affairs, communications and digitization, and will serve as a hub for the company's engagement with customers and public authorities.
"For us, this is about two things: being closer to where decisions are made and being able to recruit talented people who want to help build the aquaculture industry of the future. Oslo gives us access to a broader labour market and makes us more accessible to both authorities and partners," said Ode's CEO, Ola Kvalheim.
The Minister, for her part, used her discourse to give support to the industry—"cod farming has never been stronger than it is today," she stated—but also made it clear that she expects the sector to respond to its challenges. In the release, Ode summarized the spirit of Sivertsen Næss's speech as follows: "The government will act as a facilitator but will also set requirements."
In his speech, Ode's CEO took up the challenge issued by the Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy and highlighted two technologies that are central to Ode's approach and that, at the same time, address some of the main concerns that have arisen around cod farming.
On the one hand, Kvalheim highlighted that deep-sea farming keeps fish deeper in the water column during the sea phase, improving welfare, production quality, and flexibility while reducing the risk of early maturation. In February, less than a year after the launch of the world's first commercial deep-sea cod farming operation, and building on that positive experience, Ode invested in ten new deep-farming units of AKVA group's Nautilus system.
On the other hand, he pointed out that gender sorting addresses the regulatory concern that has most constrained industry growth—the risk of farmed cod spawning in cages and producing viable offspring. Its CEO announced that Ode will have a solution implemented by winter.
"Having only one gender together will short-circuit the entire discussion about theoretical risk of reproduction and impact," Kvalheim put it.
"We have not gone around the challenges, we have gone into them and worked systematically together with research and regulatory authorities. For our industry to become as large as the UN wants, we must do things right and find good solutions. The future is bright, and challenges like these are best solved when industry, research communities and authorities pull in the same direction," he stated.
The opening of the new Oslo office marks a new chapter for what was Norway's largest single supplier of cod in 2025. Founded just over six years ago, the company now has nearly 300 employees and a fully integrated value chain: from roe, fry and juvenile fish, through sea-based facilities along the coast, to slaughter, processing and downstream activities.
Thus, in his speech at the ceremony, and in the presence of the Minister, Ola Kvalheim also spoke about growing up on the coast and the ambition to support vibrant coastal communities.
So far this year, Ode has already acquired three more sites in Vestland, a juvenile cod producer in Møre og Romsdal and, has announced that after the summer, it will take over operations and staff at Mowi's cleaner fish facility in Sighaug, also in Møre og Romsdal county, to convert it to juvenile and broodstock cod production.
As a result, besides the recent addition of several profiles to the management team—since August of last year it has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer, a new Commercial Director, a new Chief Technology Officer, and a new ESG Manager—the Norwegian cod farmer is currently announcing more than 30 vacant positions, primarily in coastal communities.
"We are proud to be becoming a cornerstone business in an ever-growing number of communities along the coast," the cod farming company ended the release announcing its new office in the capital of Norway.
