Sanford: seafood innovators since 1864.
As New Zealand’s oldest fishing company, the story of Sanford is woven into Kiwi history. It all began with one man, Albert Sanford, starting his fishing operation in Auckland in 1864. He became known for his smoked snapper, setting up a popular fish market in central Auckland, just down the road from where our Sanford and Sons seafood store is today.
Sanford then set his eyes on bigger projects, acquiring the Minnie Casey - the first powered vessel to ever fish on the Hauraki Gulf. In 1924, Sanford became a publicly listed company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, where it’s remained as New Zealand’s longest running publicly listed business. By 1939, the Sanford fleet was large enough for the government to commandeer it for use in the New Zealand Navy during World War Two.
Albert Sanford’s love for the sea has stayed with us, and today Sanford is New Zealand’s largest seafood company, with 225 aquaculture farms, 43 vessels, 16 sites and about 1,400 people, supplying enough seafood to create over 700 million meals per year.
We’ve worked alongside scientists at NIWA, Massey University, Plant & Food, Cawthron and more to change the face of fishing in New Zealand, and make both the fish, and our customers happier. From helping produce and implement Precision Seafood Harvesting (PSH) systems that reduce unwanted catch and are much gentler to the fish we do want to catch, to SPATnz – a joint mussel spat project that takes the chance out of mussel farming, allowing us to sustainably grow GreenshellTM mussel spat in a Nelson hatchery.
Or most recently, there is Sanford Bioactives, an innovation plant in Blenheim that helps us maximise the benefits of every part of our seafood, without taking more out of the sea. This new facility is fully equipped to create extracts and health products like collagen and mussel powder, as well as exploring opportunities with our whole range of seafood to find out what hidden gem health benefits our fish and shellfish may hold.
If all these milestones and big ideas tell you anything, it’s that Sanford is, and always has been, future focused and innovative, guided now by the values of Care, Passion, integrity and Achieving Together. And those values don’t just extend to Sanford’s people and customers, but also our approach to the ocean and the kaimoana that has given us this long story to tell.
That’s why for the past few decades, Sanford has been helping lead the way in ocean sustainability and emission reductions, to ensure that our oceans stay abundant and healthy. So, this 150-year-old business will be able to keep feeding the world with beautiful New Zealand seafood for another 150 years. At least.