Santa Monica Seafood CEO Roger O'Brien forecasts further growth for his company in the coming year. The most significant developments for his business this year included "a major overhaul to our brand strategy, company logo and branded product nomenclature," he told IntraFish.

He added that the company has also worked on continuous process improvements in production and logistics, strengthened its senior management team with a new CFO and a new CIO, improved financial reporting and cash management systems, significantly streamlined its nventory levels, and finalized improvements in packaging needs.

One thing the company did not have this year were any mergers and acquisitions (M&As). O'Brien said this year the company said no "numerous M&A opportunities that were too risky or not a ‘good fit’."

Here's what he looks forward to in the coming year.

Looking ahead, what will be the three most important developments that could impact the industry in 2020?

(1) How the seafood industry stands up to the continued proliferation of plant-based and cell-based imitation seafood.

(2) Potential fallout from major industry litigation – the alleged price-fixing in the salmon industry; the alleged price-fixing in the Chilean fishmeal industry, and the settlements, costs and bankruptcies still happening with the major US tuna canners following their price-fixing litigation activity.

(3) The continuing positive economic climate – with inflation under control, a strong job market and a positive economy with low interest rates in the US, supporting a presidential election year. US trade agreements were recently approved with Mexico/Canada and also the big trade deal with China; and with the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union no later than January 31, 2020 with businesses forced to resolve ‘life after Brexit’.

What major changes and developments do you expect your business to undergo in 2020?

A significant increase in our processing automation to offset labor-related cost issues, conversion to a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software system for all our operations and locations, expansion of our skin-pack operations facilities both in the West and in the Midwest to support the explosive growth of this division, and completion of at least one M&A deal that will geographically expand our processing and distribution business.

Opinion

What Santa Monica Seafood CEO Roger O’Brien said no to in 2019, and what he looks forward to next year