Born in Vigo—Spain’s main fishing port—José Manuel Gómez was destined to build a career in seafood. With over 37 years of experience, mostly in Managing Director roles, he has worked across a wide range of seafood sectors, including food service wholesale, coated products manufacturing, fish processing, fishing operations, and international trade.
In 2003, he became Managing Director of Frigoríficos Fandiño, one of the two companies that later merged to form Grupo Profand. There, he focused primarily on the Argentine shrimp market, continuing the legacy of Fandiño’s founder, who was a pioneer in introducing Argentine shrimp to Spain.
Since 2012, José Manuel has been with Icelandic Ibérica—now Iceland Seafood Ibérica (ISI)—where he serves as Sourcing & Sales Director, leading the company’s procurement and sales teams. While ISI primarily specializes in cod and other Icelandic species, in 2013 he initiated and led the development of the company’s Argentine land-frozen shrimp project, which evolved into ACHERNAR S.A.S.. Thanks to phased investments, ACHERNAR is now among the top five Argentine land-based shrimp producers. Most recently, the company has also invested in its own vessels to expand into the FAS (frozen-at-sea) market.
