Sofina Europe, owners of Young’s Seafood and the Karro Food Group, has announced the appointment of Einar Olgeirsson as its new head of group packaging development.
Einar, a Grimsby local, started with Young’s Seafood 18 years ago in a temporary administrative support role at Ross House, eventually becoming an assistant packaging technologist and working his way up through the company.
His new role will be to lead on the development of new and innovative packaging, with an emphasis on promoting and progressing Sofina Europe’s sustainability measures through waste reduction across all Sofina UK sites.
Einar, who now leads a team of six, will be helping to drive Sofina’s sustainability strategy, with a target of 100% recyclability on all packaging by 2025.
On his appointment, Einar said: “At Sofina Europe, we strongly believe that a focus on sustainability and transparency in our approach is vital if we are to continue our position as leaders of sustainability in the food manufacturing industry.
“I’m excited to not only aid Sofina Europe in reaching its sustainability goals but to enable our customers to meet sustainability targets as well. Having started my career as a teacher – before moving to Young’s and working my way up the ranks – I am dedicated to educating our consumers and demonstrating our social responsibility as an organisation.”
Paul Craft, chief commercial officer of Sofina Europe added: “At Sofina Europe we believe that our actions as an organisation must reflect our core values of integrity, respect and accountability. At Young’s, we have already proven our commitment to sustainability by implementing a strategy to ensure that 100% of all packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2025.
“Having removed 170 metric tonnes of paper packaging and 200 metric tonnes of plastic packaging in 2020, our focus has turned to ensuring that 100% of our packaging is recyclable by 2025. We are proud to share that 90% of our branded packaging in Young’s is now recyclable, which puts us well on track to meeting our 2025 commitment.
“Moving forwards, Einar will be instrumental in helping us to meet our upcoming sustainability goals. His expertise and commitment in this area make him a great fit for the role and in leading the drive to hit our targets.”
