On arriving in Ålesund in 1881, Hans Peter Koppernæs had little more than than an officers education to his name. This proved, however, to be enough as this young son of a farmer soon revealed his talent for business. Following three years of employment with the reputable tradesman L. A. Bakke, Koppernæs established his own maritime equipment business. He promptly made his mark. Clearly a man unable to rest on his laurels, when Hans Peter saw an opportunity, he grabbed it. He gradually acquired his own fleet to which he could deliver his own equipment as well as his own fish landing facilities, where he could receive fish from his own boats. A true self-made man. Despite the type of success that would have satisfied most, Hans Peter wanted to expand further. At that time, the Sunnmøre region’s fishermen focused their catch around their own coastline. Hans Peter saw much further, where far to the north lay the coast of Greenland and, literally speaking, a sea of opportunities and resources. Hans Peter Koppernæs helped finance the region’s first hunting expedition in 1898, resulting in a business that would establish Koppernæs as a central company in Sunnmøre.
Today, the spirit of Hans Peter Koppernæs lives on through his descendants. In upswings and downswings, hard times and good, five generations of Koppernæs have built the business brick by brick. Koppernæs has exercised its pragmatism for well over 100 years, fearless and willing to take chances as they presented themselves. This has, amongst other endevours, lead to a short career within car sales, the migrating of a factory from Ålesund to Peru and a period when all business was driven by the Family’s women, to great success, despite the traditional superstition that warns against mixing women and the fishing trades.
Today the Company stands sturdier and more diverse than ever, thanks in part to the acquisition of Tingstad, Nordic Fastening Group and TripleNine Group. All based upon those first principles established in 1884: Creating value that lasts, reliability, adventurous spirit and a compulsion to think out of the box and far beyond the horizon.
