reLAKSation 286. Callander McDowell
A league of its own!: The latest sustainable seafood supermarket league table has just been published by the Marine Conservation Society as part of its consumer awareness campaign. The MCS say that the table is based on the performance of the main UK supermarkets against various criteria including the policies that shape their buying decisions and the sustainability of the fish they sell. Not surprisingly, both Marks & Spencers and Waitrose top the league table this year.
Sustainability is the hot topic, not only of the seafood industry, but also of the supermarket sector. Whilst it may not be politically correct to question sustainability issues, we at Callander McDowell, do wonder whether this league table is inherently flawed. This is because this survey appears to be based on a simple questionnaire which the supermarkets complete and thus the responses are only as good as the questions posed. In our view, the league table could be more meaningful if the Marine Conservation Society had been more proactive when conducting this survey.
Perhaps the Marine Conservation Society believe that their table creates competition between supermarkets encouraging those further down the table to raise their standards but our view, based on observations in the marketplace is that all the supermarkets are doing a relatively good job in offering their customers a wide sustainable choice.
The immediate impression that is gained from the league table is that there is a direct correlation between league position and customer profile. Thus, supermarkets at the top of the league table service a customer base of middle class families and above, where cost is often not the most important factor influencing purchases. This customer base is usually better educated and better informed and has a higher awareness of issues like sustainability. By comparison, those supermarkets at the bottom of the league table service customers where cost is the main influence on purchases and this means that choice is much more limited. On this basis alone, we would have been able to correctly identify where each supermarket is placed in the current league table.
We also believe that the survey is flawed because it gives too much weighting to ethical policies rather than the fish they sell. This means that M&S come out top even thought they only sell 12 species from the MCS ‘fish to eat’ list. Yet Morrisons has comes sixth despite offering their customers 22 species from the same MCS list. Five of the supermarkets continue to sell at least one species from the ‘fish to avoid’ list and Sainsburys, who come fourth out of eight in the league table sell three species the MCS recommends to be avoided.
The MCS recognise that consumers must rely on their retailers to provide the best information possible in order to help them decide on their purchases. Unfortunately, the labelling legislation is still weak in some areas. For example, all rays can be labelled as skate which is extremely confusing since most supermarkets no longer sell the common skate but they continue to (legally) use the name for any ray. Pacific salmon labelling is also confusing since ‘Alaskan salmon’ is not a recognised name and is used for more than one species. We will return to this subject later.
The MCS also are concerned whether farmed fish production can be considered sustainable. We, at Callander McDowell, would argue that farming must be more sustainable than the continued plunder of the seas. They have encouraged supermarkets to apply key sustainable and environmental requirements to farmed fish and their advice to consumers is to buy organic or Freedom Food accredited fish. However, the gap between these and the majority of farmed salmon is closing rapidly and many consumers would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Interestingly, whilst the MCS advice is to avoid any farmed salmon other than organic and Freedom Food accredited, all the supermarkets sell salmon without these labels. In fact, those supermarkets that provided information on the species sold report that farmed salmon is their biggest seller.
The MCS league table does not really do much to encourage the consumption of sustainable fish. Shoppers at Morrisons are unlikely to be persuaded to visit Waitrose or Marks & Spencers to buy their fish simply based on Morrisons position in the league table. Why should they when Morrisons can offer them at least 10 more species from the MCS ‘fish to eat’ list.
Wild v Farmed: Seafoodintelligence.com highlights that the new report released by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of the WWF and the World Conservation Union is the first to take a comprehensive look at the market competition between wild and farmed in the US. The main area of concern in Chapter 13 is whether the effects of farmed salmon prices on those of wild fish risk being overly simplistic and misleading.
It is inevitable that as supply of farmed salmon increases, it will have an effect on the price of wild fish. This is due to the fact that many consumers think that farmed and wild salmon are the same fish, just that one is farmed and the other wild. Equally, many do not realise that wild salmon consists of five different species all with different eating characteristics. Prices for wild salmon have reflected this difference, thus King salmon commands a much higher price than chum salmon. In the past, this has not been too much of a problem for consumers since most of the lower value wild salmon species have been canned whilst the premium priced species have been sold as fresh.
The rise of salmon farming has complicated the picture since most farmed salmon is sold as fresh or frozen and competes against the premium wild species. Farmed salmon has also been widely used in added value dishes but as prices have risen and issues of sustainability increased, more of the lower wild species have been substituted in added value production with a noticeable decline in the eating characteristics.
The reports’ researchers suggest that if consumers perceive that a particular wild salmon product is superior in quality to farmed salmon then that wild salmon will command a higher price over farmed salmon. Equally, if consumers think that the wild salmon is inferior to farmed salmon, then the product price will be discounted relative to farmed salmon. It is no wonder that the authors think that the effect of farmed salmon prices on wild may be seen as too simplistic because it is. Perhaps if wild salmon was better labelled then consumers would be better informed and able to make a better choice.
It is unfortunate that the authors did not cast their net further afield because they might have seen that this relationship is not so clear cut elsewhere. In the UK, wild (Pacific) salmon appears to command a higher price than farmed (Atlantic) salmon because it is sold with the MSC accreditation. This pushes the price of wild salmon up based solely on the issue of sustainability and not its’ eating characteristics.
Perhaps the wild salmon fishing industry has missed an opportunity to convince US consumers of wild salmons’ sustainable credentials or maybe consumers just prefer to buy farmed salmon simply because it tastes better.
Spag bol anyone?: A recent report in IntraFish suggest that the UK’s seafood retail figures paint a complicated and at times contradictory picture for 2006 exposing a widening gulf between those who consume seafood regularly and those who increasingly avoid it altogether. This is attributed to the high cost of fish which is thought to be a deterrent for many consumers from buying fish. We, at Callander McDowell are not so sure. Undoubtedly, most fish consumers come from better educated and more affluent middle classes which is why stores like Waitrose report growing sales. However many other consumers not only do not buy fish but more relevantly, would not consider buying it when they do their shopping.
Consumers in the lower socio economic groups tend to avoid fresh and chilled fish preferring to buy from the freezer section instead. It is only necessary to look at what products are available to see that breaded and battered white fish dominate the supermarket freezer cabinets, especially in stores like Morrisons and Asda which trade on lower prices.
A report in the Daily Mail appears to confirm this picture. A recent survey has found that whilst variety is supposed to be the spice of life, most Britons appear to stick to the old favourites. It seems that the average household survives on just four staple dishes. These are spaghetti bolognase which the average Briton will eat 2960 portions in a life time, sausages and mash 2264 times, fish and chips 2089 times and chill con carne 1567 times. The survey found that some households might eat spaghetti bolognase twice, if not three times a week.
Lloyd Grossman, a former presenter of TV’s Masterchef, blamed hectic lifestyles for this boring diet. He added that despite an explosion of TV shows it seems that a combination of time pressure and a fear of failure are limiting the culinary experience. He suggests that everyone should be familiar with at least six basic dishes – roast chicken, shepherds pie, salad, grilled fish, risotto and steamed or stir fried vegetables.
However, it is going to take much more than Lloyd Grossman’s recommendation to persuade consumers to buy fresh fish, let alone grill it at home. This is the challenge for the industry and one which we are clearly failing to address.