Marel and CEO Árni Oddur receive Icelandic business awards

Processing Plant Arni Oddur Thordarson

Árni Oddur Thórdarson, CEO of Marel, accepted the 2018 Annual Business Awards presented by the Icelandic financial newspaper Vidskiptabladid and Frjáls Verslun business magazine.

Iceland’s Minister of Finance, Bjarni Benediktsson handed Árni Oddur the awards at a ceremony in Reykjavik’s Harpa Concert Hall.

During an in-depth interview, Árni Oddur described Marel’s extraordinary growth from a local startup to a global leader in its field, and the transition to selling high tech processing equipment and software for the fast-growing poultry, meat, and fish industries.

On track for steady growth

Marel growth has been approximately 20% annually since its initial listing in 1992 on the Icelandic stock exchange when the company totaled 45 employees and €6 million in revenue.

During the interview with Vidskiptabladid, Árni Oddur recounts his journey with Marel from 2005 when he became the Chairman of the Board of Marel, a position he held until 2013 when he became the CEO.

In 2005, Marel’s revenues were €130 million, and by 2017 they exceeded €1 billion. During the same period, the dedicated team working at Marel has expanded to 6,000 employees.

Marel’s tremendous growth has been part of a strategic plan that management put forward in 2006 and achieved with a combination of organic growth, mergers, and acquisitions.

Marel intends to continue on the same trend with an average increase of 12% annually from 2017 through 2026 with the aim of reaching €3 billion in revenues by that time.

Plans for a dual listing on an international stock exchange are on track with three stock exchanges currently under consideration: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and London.

We can only tackle those challenges by investing in innovation and technology. The amount of food wasted globally is tremendous, and the amount of poultry, meat, and fish wasted is valued at around €400 billion every year measured in customer value. We have an important job to do. We will continue to transform the food industry and increase food quality, safety, and sustainability while reducing waste in the value chain. It is not only our corporate responsibility to do so, but also an exciting

Árni Oddur Thórdarson
Marel CEO

Opportunities to tackle global challenges

Marel‘s vision is to transform food processing in close partnership with our customers. We envision a world where quality food is produced sustainably and affordably.

Our focus remains on realizing our vision of making food production more sustainable as we tackle the challenges of meeting an increasing demand for food and changing consumption patterns. This challenge is driven in part by the 60 million people who move from rural to urban areas every year and join the global group of active consumers.


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