Icelandic fishing and processing giant HB Grandi looks ready to abandon its name following a proposal put to the board.
The decision will be taken at a shareholders’ meeting next month whether or not to drop the longstanding HB Grandi name in favour of Brim, and a Brim Seafood label for the company’s products.
HB Grandi’s current name came about fifteen years ago with the merger of Grandi (itself the result of a previous merger of Ísbjörninn and Bæjarútgerð Reykjavíkur) and Haraldur Böðvarsson, although a number of other companies were merged into the company or acquired over the years.
The Grandi name also applies to the harbourside district where the company has its Reykjavík headquarters.
Brim, which recently acquired a substantial stake in HB Grandi, subsequently changed its name to Útgerðarfélag Reykjavíkur – presumably as a preamble to free up the Brim name so it could subsequently be used to replace the HB Grandi name.
Brim has a chequered history of its own, with its origins as the fisheries arm of shipping group Eimskip, and passing through a number of permutations as it came into the ownership of Guðmundur Kristjánsson.
Both HB Grandi and Brim are recognised Icelandic seafood brands on export markets, and according to the company the proposed change of name underscores an increased focus on sales and marketing, alongside the transfer to HB Grandi of Útgerðarfélag Reykjavíkur’s Asian sales network.
