From the Port of Grimsby & Immingham it is distributed into all corners of the UK, where seafood consumption is significant, as it is a country surrounded by water and has a long tradition of fishing. With an average per capita consumption of around 24 kilograms per year, the market presents significant opportunities for companies in the seafood industry such as Royal Greenland. 

Fish and chips, the world famous traditional British dish remains one of the most popular ways to enjoy seafood, especially here in the summertime in the many coastal towns and holiday destinations. The irresistible combination of a whole fillet of battered cod or haddock resting atop a mound of steaming hot chunky chips is the quintessential British comfort food.

Commercial Manager Tony Roberts has been with Royal Greenland for 7 years and has sold numerous loads of cod into pub groups and restaurant chains: ‘Two types of cod in Royal Greenland’s assortment are very high in demand here in the UK; the Frozen at Sea cod from the off-shore fisheries and the renowned Nutaaq cod from the coastal fishing communities along the Greenlandic west coast.” he explains.

High service level around the clock with only a dozen people

Tony is one of twelve Royal Greenland Champions serving the UK market. The team is made of great people all with various experience and background. In the office in Manchester the team covers five different nationalities assisting the UK customers with all aspects of finance, logistics, supply chain, technical, sales or marketing queries.

Managing Director Randall Jennings has headed the team since 2013 and takes a deep breath while thinking back on the last 5-7 years: ‘When the leave-vote on Brexit became a reality we knew that we would have a lot of work ahead of us as to adapting to new legislation even before it was in place and to start assisting the Greenlandic authorities with market insights in the ongoing endeavours towards a trade agreement for Greenlandic seafood. It has – and still is – extremely complex and the team has done an incredible job in finding new solutions in today’s market with duty on goods from Greenland. And then on top came Covid in 2020!’ Randall smiles, with slight relief: ‘I’m glad we didn’t know what we had ahead of us at that time – but today we stand so much stronger with so much experience and insights into areas that we never thought would be necessary, but situations that have created an extremely strong team spirit and winning mentality’.

A transactional supplier? No thanks!

One of the things that the team in the UK insists on is being a valued partner of choice and a strong industry player. This implies understanding both the foodservice market, the culinary landscape, the Chefs, the buying Groups and the shopper’s behaviour as solid preparation for dialogues with the UK customers in all channels.

Head of Sales Andrew Wrigley and Marketing Manager Solenne Labarere therefore insist on finding time for market research, Chef’s Focus Groups and consumer testings: ‘Most of the Chefs do not have time to familiarize themselves with all details when it comes to setting their menu and ordering their seafood. We need to be a trusted seafood partner rather than just a transactional supplier’, Andrew explains, ‘and we have to show our customers that we offer a strong relationship and products that customers can trust in’.

One way to build this trust goes via dialogue and in-dept understanding of the actual needs. Here in June, Solenne and Andrew are just tying up the very interesting findings that have come out of qualitative in-dept focus group talks with selected Chefs from various businesses during the spring.

The Rolls Royce of Prawns

Royal Greenland has a long history of supplying coldwater prawns into the UK market, the world’s largest market in this particular category. The characteristic blue, black and golden bags with the Royal Greenland logo have amongst foodservice professionals and sandwich manufacturers been called the Rolls Royce of Prawns.

‘As the world’s largest supplier in the world’s largest market for this category we have a strong obligation to understand both the foodservice market and the consumer preferences’, Solenne explains: ‘Again and again, consumer tests confirms the performance of our coldwater prawns as sweet, juicy and very well suited for a variety of dishes and that coldwater prawns stand out from other species on performance in a range of dishes from the iconic Prawn Cocktail to contemporary servings in bowls, salads and sandwiches’.

Royal Greenland UK brings in prawns from Greenlandic fisheries, and after Brexit, also more and more prawns from the Canadian side of the Davis Strait, where Royal Greenland operates 9 facilities in the local fishing communities in Atlantic Canada.

In the next issue of Meet Royal Greenland, we invite you to visit one of our key prawn processing plants.