MW Brand CEO Elisabeth Fleuriot. (Photo: Stock File)

MW Brands expects slight growth despite challenging market

Major European seafood company MW Brands expects to perform sales for EUR 646 million this year, a result that represents a significant contribution to Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF), which it completely belongs to.

"If there is a strong [tuna] price increase like in 2013, there will be an impact. But so far, we are very confident with the outlook" in the seafood market, pointed out MW Brands chief executive officer Elisabeth Fleuriot, The Nation reported.

Last year, MW Brands revealed 6 per cent increase in sales and 10 per cent growth in profits, without including the revenues from its two new subsidiaries: King Oscar (EUR 50 million) and MerAlliance (EUR 150 million).

The firm, which is on top of the list of shelf-stable seafood brands in many European countries such as France, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy, reported an operating profit margin exceeding 15 per cent.

Fleuriot highlighted that in order to increase revenues, MW Brands is investing in advertising, innovations and product quality, Bangkok Post informed.

The CEO also expressed the firm’s aim to continue building its business on the sustainability principle, tightening its integration with Thai Union Group's global operations, as well as making sure it is "absolutely competitive" in terms of supply chains.

In addition, Fleuriot made reference to the European Commission’s recent warning to Thailand, claiming it failed to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and stressed that this fact has had no impact on MW Brands' business.

"This is a process very common in the EU to avoid IUU fishing, which is absolutely important to make sure that fish in the oceans will not be depleted," she said.

"It's basically a warning to markets that the EU believes they are not doing enough to comply with their regulations. It's not a punishment, it's a warning," the CEO added.

In this regard, she remarked that MW Brands, which has worked with Ghana's government to shake off the yellow card successfully, is ready to work closely with TUF to help Thailand overcome the problem.

The company is also accelerating its innovations drive to help it expand into new markets and segments such as France, where it has introduced its "Pave" product line that enables tuna to penetrate the hot-dishes segment there.

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