reLAKSation 258. Callander McDowell
Which is which?: Intrafish recently reported that the UK's Competition Commission has published an issues statement in connection with acquisition of Marine Harvest by Pan Fish. One of the main issues was whether Scottish salmon can be identified as having its own specific market sector.
In the UK, there are certainly a number of supermarkets which will only sell Scottish salmon (although if supplies were severely limited, we would not be surprised if they were to seek fish from elsewhere to fill any gaps in supply). We believe that these supermarkets actively select Scottish salmon for two reasons. The first is that Scottish farms are local and therefore the supermarkets find it easier to form special relationships with individual farms, to ensure that the fish they buy meet their own exacting requirements. The second reason is that when some supermarkets ask their customers which salmon they prefer, they reply with the answer Scottish. This might suggest that Scottish salmon does as the Competition Commission asks, fall into its own specific market sector.
We, at Callander McDowell are not so sure. It is clear from our observations of the marketplace that what consumers say they want and what they actually buy can be two very different things. It is quite clear that most consumers are happy to buy salmon from anywhere in the world as long as it looks good, tastes good and is value for money. We would even go as far as suggesting that when faced with a choice, most consumers couldn't even tell the origin of one bit of salmon from another.
This is an interesting question which our principal, Dr Martin Jaffa, raised this week on a trip to Chile. He was there as a guest of Salmon Chile to speak about developments in the European market at an industry conference. He asked delegates if they could identify the origin of four different pieces of salmon, not something they found easy to do.
In light of the Competition Commissions question, we have decided to reproduce images of the four pieces of salmon below and invite you to identify the various countries from which they originate. If you should find some difficulty in identifying the origin of each salmon fillet then write to us at relaks@callandermcdowell.co.uk for some clues. We will publish the answers in a couple of week’s time.
1.
2.
3.
4.
In or out?: Interfish recently reported that a Seafish sponsored TNS study found that more people are regaining an appetite for home cooked food. This is due to increased awareness about health issues and food. The prominence given to food on TV may also contribute to this increased awareness. It wasn’t so long ago that Saturday morning TV was dominated by kid’s programmes. Now both the main British TV channels broadcast cookery programmes instead. One or more food and cookery programmes are now broadcast daily, peppered with the appearance of one celebrity chef or another. Food is certainly high on the public’s agenda. It is therefore of little surprise to learn of the TNS findings.
Yet, at the same time, these findings are of some surprise for while there is increasing interest in watching chef’s prepare food on TV, it has often been suggested that that is all the public do – watch. Many people are keen to see how food is prepared but few actually bother to do it. The same applies to cookery books, which have seen a resurgence in sales, especially those produced by the very same celebrity chefs. Most of these books end up on the coffee table or remain unopened on the kitchen shelf. These cookery books are the new travel books – only there to be seen.
Now, it would seem that the TNS findings are to be questioned again with the news that for the first time in history Britons are spending more on eating out than on food prepared at home. According to the Daily Mail, the amount spent on eating out rose by 102% to a staggering £87.5 billion. In contrast, the amount spent on food for eating at home grew half as quickly over the same period to £85.8 billion.
Meals out were once saved for a special occasion but changes in social circumstances, coupled with better quality food and a greater variety of restaurants has meant that eating out has become a regular habit. Ten years ago people might have gone out to eat once a month or if they were reasonably wealthy, once a week but Bob Cotton, Chief Executive of the Hospitality Association said that these days people are eating out two, three or even four times a week. In part this has been fuelled by a dramatic change in the quality and variety of food over this period. Whereas once eating out in Britain was scorned, London has now become the food capital of the world with more Michelin starred restaurants than in Paris. There is also a greater variety, for whilst Paris restaurants tend to focus on only French food, it is now possible to eat your way round the world without even leaving London.
Clearly it is difficult to reconcile the news that more people are now cooking at home when record numbers of people are reportedly eating out. The real point is that it doesn’t make any difference whether people are eating in or eating out as long as when they do eat, they are eating more fish.
Boom boom!: Intrafish report that whilst giving a keynote speech at a seminar in Trondheim, Kolborn Giskeodegaard, a senior analyst at Nordea concluded that framed salmon is driving the boom in fresh fish consumption. He said that salmon has accounted for seafood growth throughout Europe and he is right, but what he said is nothing new.
Farmed salmon is the major driver of fish consumption and has been for several years. It is only the widespread availability of fresh salmon that has maintained the viability of many seafood businesses, across the whole sector from processing to retail.
Wild fish catches have proved increasing unpredictable especially for those who depend on a ready supply for processing or even just to display on the fishmongers slab. Declining supplies or more stringent quotas have disrupted the supply of many species yet throughout a continually difficult period farmed salmon have been readily available in predictable volumes; of predictable quality and a predictable price. Farmed salmon has become the bedrock of the seafood industry.
Unfortunately, recent high prices have disrupted this foundation of the seafood sector leaving many parts of the industry unsure of their future survival. The problem is that some parts of the salmon industry do not understand on which side their bread is buttered. The unique feature of farmed fish is that they can be supplied continuously in predictable quantities and at predicable prices. When this predictability is removed, the salmon industry becomes no different to any other seafood supply. If farmers allow salmon prices to remain high, they risk destroying the whole basis on which their fish are farmed.
Salmon may have driven the seafood industry until now, but whether it continues to do so remains to be seen.