How it started
History
Bakkavör was founded in 1986 by brothers Ágúst and Lýður Guðmundsson to manufacture and export cod roe to Scandinavia. In 1993, it became the first production company in Iceland to obtain a ISO:9002 certification for quality assurance.
In 1997, three years before it was revealed to have an annual turnover of over 4.5 billion ISK, the firm expanded into Scandinavian and European markets selling cod and lumpfish roe. In addition, it started selling convenience foods, acquiring Katsouris Fresh Foods, Wine & Dine, and Geest.
In early 2003, the company sold its Icelandic components to Fram Foods ehf. and began focusing on the UK market. Having employed over 13,000 people in 2005, Bakkavör was heavily indebted following the 2008 financial crisis, forcing its founders into emergency talks with its bondholders.
After the Guðmundsson brothers reacquired a major stake in Bakkavör from their investment firm Exista in 2009, it was delisted from NASDAQ OMX in Iceland the following year and became a private limited company. Lýður and Ágúst faced fraud charges in Iceland in 2012 relating to their ownership of Exista.
Between 2013 and 2015, it simplified its structure, selling its South African operation and a 40% stake in its Italian business later in the year, along with other operations in Continental Europe. The firm acquired US prepared foods manufacturer B. Robert's Foods in January 2015.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bakkavör, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2