In the midst of a bribery investigation, Samherij's UK frozen seafood brand Ice Fresh was delisted from top retailer Sainsbury's, but the delisting is not related to the ongoing scandal, Seagold Financial Manager Gary Lethem told IntraFish, citing that Ice Fresh was among several products that were delisted.

Seagold is Samherji's UK arm for the marketing and distribution of Ice Fresh branded products. Ice Fresh items are produced in a factory out of Grimsby.

According to Lethem, the company first heard notice about the delisting from Sainsbury's around April 2019.

"Sadly, this did involve approximately 20 redundancies from our team over the last few months," Lethem said. "We have since put together a team of incredibly hard working and invaluable staff that we believe will enable us to grow the business over the next few years."

"We believe [Sainsbury's] decision was cost driven," Lethem said, adding that there is no connection to "recent events."

Samherji was recently swept into a bribery investigation concerning fishery quotas in Namibia. Then-CEO Thorsteinn Mar Baldvinsson temporarily stepped aside at Samherji to allow investigations into the company’s alleged wrongdoings.

Samherji has been distancing itself from its former managing director in Namibia, Johannes Stefansson, after he made serious bribery allegations against the company.

WikiLeaks published more than over 30,000 documents it said it obtained from a whistleblower within Samherji.

Fisheries

Sainsbury's delisting of Samherji-owned brand unrelated to cash-for-quota scandal