Kevin Bixler has been hired as the CEO of Peter Pan Seafood, and will begin in November 2022.
The Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.-based company has been without a CEO since Barry Collier left the job in March 2021.
Most recently, Bixler worked as global director of group fish procurement at Thai Union, and in 2021, he was appointed as chair of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s board of directors.
“Kevin’s experience at Thai Union, a global seafood leader, and his other various roles in the industry make him a natural fit for Peter Pan,” Peter Pan Seafood Owner and Chief Growth Officer Rodger May said in a press release. “Since we brought Peter Pan under new ownership nearly two years ago, I’ve been handling many of the CEO duties. We’ve had a great team of leaders including Jon Hickman, Mike Galan, Joe Guptill, Mike Mussell, David Lerson, and Shannon Grant, among others. We have seen significant growth under the new ownership and the timing couldn’t be better to bring Kevin and his skill-set on, and hand over some of those duties while I continue to focus on growth. I’m confident Kevin will be a great leader for the company in our commitment to customer devotion, working with key stakeholders and providing the best service and support to our fleet.”
Bixler is the son of a commercial fisherman and began working at Thai Union in 2006, first as director of procurement for Chicken of the Sea and then as vice president of procurement, becoming the youngest person in company history to be promoted to the VP level. He has served in board and advisory roles with the American Fisherman’s Research Foundation, U.S. Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.
“I am proud and excited to take on the role of CEO at Peter Pan Seafood,” Bixler said. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the entire team at Peter Pan to continue growing the company and going the extra mile for employees, fleet, community, and customers. I am also deeply committed to sustainability, something that is very in line with Peter Pan’s values as well.”
Peter Pan Seafood came under new ownership in January 2021, as May, McKinley Capital Management’s Na’-NukInvestment Fund, and RRG Global Partners Fund bought Peter Pan’s assets from Maruha Nichiro. The company has gone through some shuffling of personnel as it ramped up its hiring over the past two years, gaining and losing a number of executives well-known in the U.S. seafood industry.
The vertically integrated firm specializes in canned, frozen, and fresh salmon; king crab; tanner crab; Dungeness crab; halibut; Pacific cod; and Alaska pollock; with global sales and a brokerage network in the U.S. Its biggest brands are Demings, Double Q, Humpty Dumpty, Peter Pan, Oceanic, Gill-netter’s Best, SeaKist, and Unica.
Photo courtesy of Peter Pan Seafood
