reLAKSation 304. Callander McDowell
The next big thing: The leading comment in ‘Seafood International’ recalls that Vietnam’s pangasius catfish has been dubbed ‘the next tilapia’. We, at Callander McDowell, can only sit back and like the rest of the fish and seafood industry, be amazed at this versatile species’ rapid growth in production and market penetration.
Yet despite the enormous ambitions of Vietnam’s aquaculture industry, we, at Callander McDowell, are not so sure that pangasius can be described as ‘the next tilapia’. This is because here in the UK, tilapia has yet to really arrive. If tilapia has still to make its presence felt in the UK market, can pangasius make a greater impact?
Tilapia is not unknown in the UK but sales are tiny in relation to those of species like cod. Three major retailers sell whole tilapia but it is usual to see only one or two specimens displayed on the fresh fish counter. The fish are usually farmed and sourced from Jamaica although there have been some attempts to grow fish here in the UK. Typically, whole tilapia retail for about £8-9/kg. In addition two retailers sell fresh tilapia fillets, although a third is just coming on stream this week. Tilapia fillets typically sell for between £11-17/kg, a price that provides the real indication of why tilapia has not been a great success in the UK. Currently, cod fillets are being sold at below £9/kg making tilapia not such a cheap alternative. There is therefore no incentive for consumers to give it a try unless they are specifically looking for something different. Perhaps this is why according to SeaFish, only 100 tonnes of tilapia were sold in the UK last year. The British are notorious for their conservative consumption of just one or two species of fish rarely being willing to try even alternative locally caught fish, let alone fish from halfway round the world.
In some other countries, cheap tilapia can be found in the freezer sections of supermarkets but so far only one supermarket has tried frozen tilapia fillets and these have not been a key seller. Perhaps the price of £11.50/kg was sufficient deterrent to consumer purchase.
Yet, there are some niche markets for tilapia in the UK. The fish can be usually found in some of the retail markets located in areas with a high ethnic community. Equally, the fish can be found in specialist ethnic food outlets selling to consumers who are already familiar with the fish. It is well known that some parts of Billingsgate wholesale market are thriving because of demand for such imported species from such outlets.
The problem with the UK is that British people have a long tradition of eating marine fish. It is several centuries since there was a demand for freshwater species such as tilapia and consumers have lost the taste for these fish (except trout). By comparison, consumers in the US have freshwater fish farms on their doorstep producing Channel Catfish. Although production is centred in the southern states, catfish is available across the country. Tilapia is a good alternative to catfish, an opportunity which producers elsewhere have worked hard to exploit. Through their efforts, tilapia has become commonplace in the US as a tasty low cost fish. It is in this context that pangasius has been dubbed ‘the next tilapia’. However, it doesn’t really hold water in the European markets.
Certainly, our travels elsewhere in Europe have not enabled us to reach a different conclusion. We have seen even less tilapia in France than we have in the UK. This may be in part to the presence of Nile Perch in every supermarket. This fish may already satisfy the needs of the local ethnic communities so negating the need for tilapia in the French market.
However the situation in Holland is different again. Tilapia is readily available in every Dutch supermarket especially as frozen fillets but also as fresh. One of the reasons why tilapia is more popular in Holland is due to its links with South East Asia and its large ethnic population. This is also why pangasius is available in most supermarkets too and why Holland is one of the main European importers of pangasius from Vietnam.
Pangasius has reached the UK. Currently, there are just five products in British supermarkets, two of which are frozen and both are added value. The one which seems most popular is not labelled as pangasius but it does clearly state the name and origin of the fish on the pack. The second product is named as Basa, one of the commercial names used for pangasius, but this product does not seem to have been so well accepted. The third product is just a chilled version. A fourth product has just appeared in one outlet at the time of writing.
The fifth product is ‘fresh’ pangasius fillet which is available from the fish counter of one supermarket chain. The fillets are priced at £6/kg which is well under the price of cod. We have no idea how well it is selling but it has been available for some time now which does suggest that consumers are buying it. Whether they are buying it in sufficient volumes remains to be seen? Certainly, no other supermarket has taken that big step forward and given their customers the opportunity to buy pangasius from their fish counters. Maybe they still need to be convinced, yet any hesitation may be justified since the supermarket selling fresh pangasius has just made changes to the name of the fish, perhaps in order to make the fish more attractive to their customers. When the fish was first launched, the supermarket seemingly decided to avoid the nomenclature usually used for the fish such as Basa or Panga. Instead they called it Vietnamese River Fish. Now, the fish has been renamed as the Vietnamese River Cobbler, a name used for the fish mainly in SE Asia. The Cobbler is actually a catfish like species native to Australia but the name has been adopted by some pangasius producers. We have yet to see whether this change provides an added incentive to encourage UK shoppers to buy this fish. We are not sure. British consumers are notoriously reluctant to forgo their traditional species. After all, why should they buy Cobbler as an alternative to cod when coley, a relative of cod, can be bought for less than £4/kg?
IntraFish recently interviewed the President of the UK’s National Federation of Fish Fryers who represents fish and chip shops and he said that novel species such as pangasius had only a very small uptake accounting for about one meal in a hundred.
Pangasius may be the next tilapia in some parts of the world but the jury’s’ still out as to whether Panga and chips becomes a firm favourite at the English chip shop.
Wild about oil: The IntraFish newspaper reports that a panel of taste testers recently took part in a taste comparison at Eillott’s Oyster House in Seattle. The taste off was organised by Alaska based Kwik’Pak Fish to draw attention to their Alaska Yukon King salmon which they hope will become just as famous as its well-known cousin, Copper River King salmon. Overseeing the taste off was seafood marketing consultant Jon Rowely who is credited with creating the campaign that made Copper River salmon the most sought after salmon in the US. Copper River salmon can command prices as high as $40/lb and so far no other salmon has managed to achieve a similar position. Kwik’Pak Fish hope that their AlaskaYukon King salmon can do so. They hoped the taste off would demonstrate that Alaska Yukon King salmon make better eating than their Copper River counterparts. When Jon Rowely announced the results he said that 70% of the panel preferred the Alaska Yukon Fish to that from Copper River. He now plans to throw his marketing expertise behind the fish.
Mr Rowely said that the Yukon Kings have unsurpassed flavour and mouth feel. Although Yukon Kings and Copper River Kings are the same fish, they both have much higher body oil content than other King salmon. Whilst Copper River Kings have about 16-17% oil, the oil content of Yukon Kings can reach 30% although it is typically around 24%. The high content is due to the huge distances that King salmon swim to spawn that require large stores of energy. It is this oil content that gives these King salmon the unsurpassed flavour and mouth feel that Mr Rowely and his panel members like.
This apparent preference for wild Alaskan salmon like the Yukon Kings is echoed by many celebrity chefs from the other side of the Atlantic. British celebrity chefs avidly recommend that consumers buy wild salmon rather than farmed. One of the reasons given is the flabby nature of farmed flesh due to its high oil content. Leading chef Richard Corrigan was especially disparaging about farmed salmon on the BBC TV programme ‘Full on Food’. He said that it was totally inedible and only fit for the bin. Yet a quick glance at the declared fat content of salmon sold in the UK retail sector shows that farmed salmon has much lower fat levels than that found in both Yukon and Copper River Kings.
The fat content in standard salmon ranges from 13.1 -16.3% whilst organic salmon is lower at between 7.3 - 13.6%. By comparison Alaskan salmon sold in the UK can range between 4.4 - 8.6%. Rather than being higher in fat the sockeye salmon sold in the UK is much lower in fat than that found in both King and farmed salmon. This is why it is often less appealing to the mouth than salmon with a higher oil content.
Perhaps it is not the fat content of farmed salmon that is the problem but rather that the problem is with the celebrity chefs themselves?
Another preconception!: Julian Pryke, founder of a pioneering modern fishmongers in south London, has written in Seafood International that supermarkets should stop selling fresh fish. He believes that this is the only way to save the seafood industry as otherwise consumers will become used to buying inferior fish. However, Mr Pryke is wrong. If the supermarkets stop selling fish, it will not be the saving of the seafood industry but rather its demise. The reality is that consumers like supermarkets and like the convenience of doing their entire shopping under one roof. Only time and cash rich people have the luxury of going from one independent shop to another to buy all their produce.
Mr Pryke argues that the undeniably brilliant logistics operation that underpins the success of the supermarkets just cannot cope with the demands of fresh seafood. He said that the supermarkets know this and have spent millions trying to get around the problem and the result has been a disaster for consumers and traders alike. We, at Callander McDowell, do not defend the supermarkets but it very much sounds like Mr Pryke doesn’t like the competition. He accuses them of an element of shortermism and a quick buck that has helped see the demise of specialist retailers and will ultimately damage both producers and retailers alike.
According to Mr Pryke, their crime is to sell fillets wherever possible using innovations like modified atmosphere packing in a bid to maximise profits. Yet supermarkets are simply selling consumers what they want. Independent research has shown time and again that British consumers do not like buying whole fish. They don’t like to see the eyes, the head or the fins. They much prefer blocks of fish flesh that bears no resemblance to the fish at all. In much the same way, consumers are happy to buy a steak but don’t want to see the whole carcass of beef.
Modified atmosphere packaging may be the antithesis of everything Mr Pryke believes but prepacks give consumers the opportunity to decide whether they want to purchase the fish without commitment. It is much harder for unsure consumers to buy from a service counter. Prices are expressed by the kilo so they have to ask how much a piece of fish is. Once they start the conversation, they feel more obliged to see the purchase through even though they may then decide that the fish isn’t exactly what they want. Prepacks give them the freedom of choice without the obligation.
Mr Pryke also says that supermarkets employ ‘clever’ pricing that relies on the all too trusting buying public. He quotes the example of one supermarket behemoth close to him that is selling two weary looking fillets of farmed Norwegian salmon weighing 260g for £3.64 (£14/kg). He says that this is being bought by people who think that this is cheaper than the same product (although not weary) that he sells for £12.99/kg.
We, from Callander McDowell, have not (yet) had the privilege of visiting Mr Pryke’s fishmongers so we don’t know what exactly what he sells. We do, however, know what all the behemoth supermarkets have on offer. When Mr Pryke wrote his view, three of the leading supermarkets offered 260g packs of salmon fillets. All contain skinless and boneless fillets, which are normally more expensive than skin on fillets. The price charged by each of the three stores is either £3.38 or £3.39. They are all priced the same because they match each others prices. The price equates to £13.00/kg which is virtually the same as Mr Pryke charges, however, this price falls to well below Mr Prykes’ price if shoppers buy two packs.
We are aware that some supermarket stores do charge higher prices for some items but this is not usual for fish so we are not sure where Mr Pryke saw packs on sale at £3.64. All three chains have large outlets close to Mr Pryke’s premises.
Mr Pryke claims that selling vast numbers of fillets un-educates the public about seafood and in turn re-educates them towards buying poorer quality farmed fish at a higher price than it should be. He adds that it is time the supermarkets were honest about what it is they are selling instead of passing off second rate farmed and over-packaged products at unfair prices to a general public who have forgotten the meaning of choice.
Clearly, the public have not forgotten that they have a choice which is why they choose to shop at the supermarket rather than Mr Pryke’s establishment. Perhaps Mr Pryke should actually take some time out and go and see what supermarkets actually have to offer. They sell much more than second rate farmed fish. Shoppers can buy a whole variety of fish both farmed and wild caught including cod, haddock, coley, ray wings, mackerel, herring, tilapia, monkfish, bass, bream, trout as well as salmon, both farmed and wild. There is also a large range of shellfish including mussels, oysters and scallops, not forgetting both warmwater and coldwater shrimp. Many stores have a fish counter as well as prepacked and shoppers can visit either or both. Supermarkets do not just sell farmed salmon and that they sell is of good quality. Supermarkets are all very honest about what they sell using clear labelling, which is far more than most independent stores do.
Finally returning to the 260g packs of salmon which Mr Pryke so abhors. He says that “this is being bought by people who think that this is cheaper that the same product that we sell at £12.99/kg”. Presumably, this means that Mr Pryke is selling the same second rate farmed fish that the behemoth supermarket is selling, albeit perhaps not so weary!