October 29, 2021
Sealord bottom line hit by Foodstuffs cold shoulder
Sealord chief executive Doug Paulin says being cold-shouldered out of supermarket freezers will affect returns to its Māori and Japanese shareholders.
Foodstuffs North Island has opted for a supplier offering fish processed overseas at a lower cost, despite Sealord accounting for 75 percent of the current frozen fish sales in New World and Pak’n Save stores.
“We believe it’s going to cost us about 45 percent of our volume in the Foodstuffs banner in the North Island, which is about $5 million in sales. Some of that will obviously flow through to the bottom line,” Mr Paulin says.
Sales through other supermarkets and stores will continue, but Sealord will have to redeploy or lay off staff who serviced the Foodstuffs North Island supermarkets.