Mowi chief executive Ivan Vindheim used the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) stage on Wednesday to underline the scale of the world’s largest salmon farmer, arguing that the company now produces more meals annually than McDonald’s sells burgers.
Speaking at NASF in Bergen, Vindheim said Mowi produces around 3.5 billion meals per year, compared with roughly 2.5 billion burgers sold annually by McDonald’s.
“Measured this way, Mowi is bigger than McDonald’s itself,” Vindheim said.
The comparison was intended to highlight the global reach of farmed salmon. According to Vindheim, more than one in five kilograms of salmon consumed worldwide originates from Mowi.
The company has expanded rapidly in recent years, increasing production from around 400,000 tonnes to roughly 600,000 tonnes.
Vindheim also contrasted the scale of Mowi’s output with Norwegian agriculture.
“Mowi produces 50,000 tonnes more than the entire meat production of Norway,” he said, noting that the country’s livestock sector relies on around 40,000 farmers, compared with approximately 2,500 employees at Mowi in Norway.
Despite the growth, Vindheim warned that the industry faces structural limits.
“There is no way the industry can meet the three percent supply growth we have seen in recent years with the current regulatory environment,” he said.