Sea Harvest recently acquired a 20% stake in Australia’s Mareterram. This makes them the largest shareholder in the company, and in an interview with Cape Business News, Sea Harvest CEO Felix Ratheb expressed his interest in investing more into the company, should the opportunity arise.
Mareterram describes itself as a vertically integrated agri-business. Its operations currently encompass the business assets of Western Australian based Nor-West Seafoods, an MSC-certified fishing company that harvests and processes wild caught king and tiger prawns as well as scallops, and the business assets of the Craig Mostyn Group Food Service Division, an Australian business that markets and sells Sea Harvest’s hake products.
Ratheb says that the company was listed on the ASX in Sydney in January, and states that the company sees little risk in the Australian market, with the Australian dollar offering a hard currency buffer against the volatile Rand.
Sea Harvest has been active in the Australian market for 51 years, and Ratheb is keen to use this as an opportunity to consolidate the Australian market, which is not as consolidated as the South African market. The company has more than a 40% market share in the local frozen fish sector and employs around 2,400 staff.
“Last year we gave 5% of the company to the staff, making them shareholders in the company. This means that the staff’s vision is our vision, and vice versa,” said Ratheb.
He goes on to say that the company’s “bread and butter” is its Saldanha operations, making a truly South African company, and Sea Harvest will continue to persue local growth prospects as a first choice.