reLAKSation 16.
Salmon Pasta: Which would you choose?
1. Salmon Pasta - Ingredients. 450g salmon fillet. 2 tbsp. dry white wine. 1 bay leaf. 6 black peppercorns. 225g dry bow pasta. 1 small carton double cream or low fat creme fraiche. Salt and pepper. Mixed herbs to garnish. Method. Put the salmon in a frying pan with wine, bay leaf, peppercorns and 150ml of water. Cook the salmon by bringing it to the boil, reducing the heat and poaching very gently for 8-10 mins or until the fish flakes when pressed. Boil the pasta in a large pan of salted water for the time stated on the packet. Lift the salmon onto a plate and flake. Heat the cream in a large pan. Add the salmon and pasta bows and combine gently. Season to taste. Serve immediately with a tossed salad and garnish with the chopped mixed herbs.
2. Youngs Salmon and pasta. £1.38 for 300g (one portion) available from most supermarkets or Salmon and Pasta bake.£2.99 for 660g (2 portions) available from Marks & Spencers.
Much of the current thinking of how to promote salmon involves the distribution of recipes. These are supposed to excite consumers sufficiently to make them want to go out and buy salmon. Traditionally, the main route for passing recipes to the consumer has been at the point of sale, usually the fishmongers and more recently, at the fish counter of the major supermarket chains.
Unfortunately, the problem with this form of promotion is that it only reaches those consumers who already buy fresh fish. Such consumers are already familiar with buying, preparing and cooking fresh fish and many have recognised that salmon is cheap to buy and represents a value for money meal option. The provision of recipes at the point of sale may induce some consumers to buy salmon more frequently, but they fail to reach those consumers who never buy fresh fish at all. These consumers represent the bulk of the food buying public and therefore as they do not visit either the independent fishmonger or the supermarket fish counter and thus the salmon message is simply failing to reach them.
Contact with the wider market place can be established through use of the mainstream media. Advertisements in women's and food magazines and even on the TV can reach a much greater audience. Unfortunately, such adverts have to compete with many others for consumer attention. They will need to be relatively spectacular to convince those consumers, who are adverse to the idea of buying any fresh fish, that salmon is a good buy.
An alternative strategy is to put salmon into products, which the non-salmon consumer will buy. A whole range of added value products could be given the salmon treatment. These could be relatively simple portions or complex ready meal options.
The two salmon pasta dishes highlighted demonstrate the range of possibilities. The significance of these products is that can form part of ranges of food items, which are displayed together on the supermarket shelves. Thus a consumer considering a pasta or Italian style meal might be faced with a choice of products, one of which may contain salmon. This may tempt the consumer, who would never previously consider buying salmon, into doing so, albeit in added value form.
This may be the most effective route for converting the non-salmon consumer into one who does consume salmon. Clearly, if consumers accept such added value products, then they may be more willing to try salmon in other forms.
Rather than distribute more adventurous recipes to try tempting the consumer to choose salmon, the industry might want to consider creating more specific products to do so instead.
Prices: Since Christmas, salmon prices have remained relatively low. The lack of any significant recovery has been matched by the absence of the usual commentator predictions about when prices might improve.
Initially, prices were forecast to strengthen immediately after Christmas, when harvesting pressure was expected to decline. This did not happen. Prices were then forecast to rise in the run up to Easter and this also did not happen. The last predictions would be that prices would pick up in the summer and so far no sign of this has begun.
Earlier this year, Callander McDowell did suggest that the elevated prices experienced last year were simply the result of excessive market hype from the stock exchange and that base line prices would actually decline in line with further increased production. This appears to be the case, although we would be delighted if we were yet to be proved wrong.
The low price of salmon is simply a reflection of the increasing production volume and whilst there will be some who advocate production control to aid recovery, market demand also continues to grow.
The only real solution to regaining margin from low prices is the adoption of more market led strategies, producing the range of products consumers actually want.
Produce now, Market later: According to Intrafish, the British Marine Finfish Association, Seafish and the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, have conducted a survey into the market potential for farmed marine fish. The survey focused on market attitudes to two key species, turbot and halibut. Details of the results can be found on Intrafish so will not be discussed here. Of much more interest is the fact that it has taken until now to undertake this market evaluation.
Experience from the wider business sector would suggest that before any attempt is made to cultivate a commercial product, it is essential to ascertain whether there is sufficient demand to justify the planned production. However, in the case of marine fish culture, the industry appears to have invested in production first and then given, much later, consideration to the market.
Of the two species, attempts to farm turbot were made first. This eventually led to the set up of two commercial farms. However, within only a very short time span, both closed down. It was claimed at the time, that the water temperature around the British coast was too low for economic production. This pronouncement was rather surprising since researchers must have surely established the temperature requirements for turbot long before the two commercial farms were established.
Shortly after the closures, the farming technology was transferred to Galicia in Spain. It was argued that the water temperatures there were better suited to turbot farming than those found around the UK. This seems very strange, since surely this is something, which must have been obvious from the outset.
After turbot farming became well established in Galicia, a team from Ireland concluded that the technology could be transferred there, despite the similarity of water temperatures to the UK. If this was the case, why had attempts to farm turbot in Britain failed? The answer to this question may have more to do with the market for turbot, than any possible constraints on production.
In the UK, turbot has only a very limited market demand, which comes mainly from specialist restaurants. By comparison, there is a significantly greater demand from Northern Spain, where turbot consumption has almost a cultural significance. It is therefore not surprising that commercial turbot farming became established around the main market place for the fish. This would appear to be a much better explanation than poor water temperatures, which may be simply an excuse for the lack of market research. Perhaps, it simply demonstrates a lack of market awareness in the pursuit of product diversification. It does seem that there is a case of can we produce it? rather than, is there a market for it?
The current market survey places a positive spin on the market potential for key marine species, but whether this market can be expanded to absorb the planned farmed production, has yet to be seen.