THAILAND – Bangkok-based seafood company, Thai Union Group has made a strategic investment in Aegir Seafood Company, one of the leading producers of cod liver in Iceland.
The company said that the investment in Aegir will support the growth of the cod liver business for Thai Union’s King Oscar brand, a Norwegian-based manufacturer of cod liver, sardines and mackerel.
“Aegir has built a reputation over almost 25 years for manufacturing some of the most premium cod liver in the market today,” said Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri.
“The strategic investment in Aegir will strengthen King Oscar’s capacity and market position through the addition of the plant in Iceland, while also providing improved sourcing of cod liver for the brand.”
According to Thai Union, Aegir sources all of its cod from Icelandic Responsible Fisheries, while its products are also certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a certification that is widely recognized by global experts as the best mark of seafood sustainability.
The investment is expected to play an important role in King Oscar’s strategy to create growth and help it take a leading position in the canned cod liver segment.
King Oscar has a strong brand heritage of more than 140 years and is one of the leading canned fish suppliers in Norway, the U.S., Poland, Belgium and Australia. King Oscar was acquired by Thai Union in 2014.
Investing in Startups
Thai union has long driven its business with a focus on innovative food business startups. The company recently agreed to invest in an Israeli foodtech start-up company Flying Spark to expand the firms’ alternative meat processing capabilities.
The company’s investment in Flying Spark marked the group’s first investment under its new venture fund that has committed US$30 million for investments in innovative companies that are developing breakthrough technologies in food-tech.
In November, the company, in collaboration with the National Innovation Agency (NIA) and Mahidol University’s Faculty of Science also announced that 23 startups have joined their food-tech incubator and accelerator program at SPACE-F.
SPACE-F is a first of its kind collaboration project in Thailand designed to promote the development of food-tech startups by providing knowledge and skills including finance and management to ensure that the startups successfully bring their ideas to commercial levels.
