reLAKSation 338. Callander McDowell
Easter Prices: Norsk Fiskeoppdrett (kyst.no) reported that according to Strategi Riktig Laks, the FCA price of salmon in Oslo was predicted to increase to NOK 28.09/kg. This equates to £2.76/kg sterling.
Strategi Riktig Laks
Although, this was slightly below the price attained in 2007, the prices were still considered to be good.
Yet this rise in export prices was not reflected in the price paid by consumers in the UK retail market. As in previous years, we have listed the deals on offer in the main British supermarkets together with prices from 2007.
Fresh fish counter
Asda
2008
Whole salmon 2kg £10 each (equiv to £5.00/kg) subsequently reduced to £4.93/kg
Salmon fillet £6.98/kg save £1.00/kg
Salmon steaks £7.98/kg save £1.00/kg
Skinless salmon portion £7.69/kg save £5.23/kg
2007
Whole salmon 2.5kg £10 each (equiv to £3.99/kg save £2.85/kg)
Salmon fillet £9.87/kg (standard price)
Morrisons
2008
Whole salmon £3.49/kg save one third
Salmon fillets £5.29/kg save one third
Salmon steaks £4.09/kg save one third
2007
Whole salmon £3.99/kg save £2.00/kg
Salmon fillet £5.99/kg save £3.00/kg
Salmon steaks £4.65/kg save £2.34/kg
Sainsbury’s
2008
Whole salmon £5.32/kg save one third subsequently reduced to £3.99/kg half price
(Standard price increased during the previous week)
2007
Whole salmon £3.49/kg half price
Tesco
2008
Whole salmon £2.99/kg less than half price
Salmon side £5.49/kg half price
2007
Whole salmon £3.49/kg half price
Salmon side £5.49/kg half price
Waitrose
2008
Whole salmon £4.59/kg save £2.40/kg
2007
Whole salmon £5.59/kg save £1.90/kg
Chilled
Asda
2008
Young’s salmon fillet £9.95/kg save £2.55/kg
2007
Young’s salmon fillet £10.41/kg save £2.00/kg on multi-buy
Booths
2008
Salmon fillets (6 pack) £6.74/kg less than half price
2007
Salmon fillet £11.50/kg save £2.00/kg
Coop
2008
Coop salmon fillet £12.45/kg save £4.17/kg
2007
Young’s salmon fillet £12.46/kg half price
Sainsbury’s
2008
Whole salmon 1.5kg £10.00 (equiv to £6.66/kg)
Young’s salmon fillets special price £8.62/kg
2007
Whole salmon £3.99/kg save £4.00/kg
Salmon side £7.49/kg half price
Somerfield
2008
Young’s salmon fillets £8.29/kg less than half price
2007
Salmon fillet £10.38/kg half price
Young’s salmon fillets £12.46/kg half price
Tesco
2008
No promotions
2007
Icefresh salmon fillet £9.62/kg half price
Waitrose
2008
No promotions
2007
4 salmon fillet £11.80/kg save £3.63/kg on multi-buy
As can be seen, the price difference between the Norwegian export price and that charged by some British supermarkets is extremely small. Quite clearly, many UK supermarkets have decided to place salmon on promotion in order to boost Easter sales. Whilst salmon remains popular in the UK, higher prices in the past have deterred some consumer purchases and at least for Easter, the supermarkets have tried to remove this obstacle to increased sales.
Some analysts expect salmon prices to weaken in the coming weeks. At the same time, it is likely that the supermarkets will end the discounts offered over Easter which could affect sales. However, the signs are that some discounting will continue. This week, Tesco have reduced the price on ‘Finest’ Shetland salmon fillets from £14.99/kg to £12.00/kg. We will continue to monitor prices for subscribers in our weekly and monthly reports. Please contact office@callandermcdowell.co.uk for further details
On the offensive: According to IntraFish, the international environmental organisation Greenpeace is currently surveying US retailers about which species they sell and whether they operate a sustainability-led purchasing policy. Greenpeace have warned retailers that non-compliance will not help stores avoid being included in their reckonings. The goal of these efforts is to educate retailers about fish species that have been included in Greenpeace’s ‘Red List’ and to encourage them to remove them from their fish counters. This campaign follows on from similar efforts in the UK and Holland in which Greenpeace persuaded some retailers to change their policies after mounting roof top protests at the retailer’s headquarters.
However, Greenpeace may not find that the US retailers succumb so readily to their protests as some of their European counterparts. This is because they appear to have brought into question some of the established principles of sustainability. In doing so, they have already upset the National Fisheries Institute who have written to many retailers urging them to resist any intimidation by Greenpeace.
The step that Greenpeace has taken that is considered to have been a step too far is the inclusion in their ‘Red List’ of three species that are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. These are Alaskan Pollock, Hoki and Patagonian Toothfish. Greenpeace say that MSC certification can be a valuable tool for retailers in ensuring chain of custody issues and assessing the best available sources for a given species but cannot be seen as a universal sea of approval for sustainable seafood.
Greenpeace’s stance leaves us, at Callander McDowell, with something of a dilemma. We vehemently disagree with Greenpeace’s ‘Red List’ in that they have included farmed salmon and shrimp without any attempt at justification but presumably because they claim that farming damages habitat and have issues with feeding fish proteins, but at the same time we also have some sympathy with their stand on the MSC. We have previously argued that the MSC is not a guarantee of sustainability and instead of sustainability the seafood industry should aspire towards ‘responsible’ supply.
Neither Hoki nor Alaskan Pollock fisheries are sustainable since both have had to enforce quota cuts. If the fishery is to be considered sustainable, then the fish harvested each year must be replaced by new stock. Reduced quotas mean that they are not and thus the fishery is unsustainable at current fishing levels.
Supporters of the MSC scheme claim that reduction in quotas shows that the certification scheme is working but this is no different to current fishery management plans such as the EU’s Common Fishery Policy that reviews quotas annually based on the best information available. The latest Scottish plan to implement immediate closures is just one example of a more responsible approach as would be changing fishing practices from trawling to line catching.
The UK newspaper, the Guardian, recently reported that the UK is expected to increase the amount of locally caught MSC certified fish by over sixty times current volumes. The UK is one of the largest sellers of MSC certified fish but most of the fish comes from Alaska, New Zealand and South Africa. This is because the supply change has responded to the calls by organisations such as Greenpeace to adopt more sustainable practices. Yet, as a recent survey by Birds Eye shows, most consumers couldn’t care less and just buy what the retailers’ stock. The question is whether the US market will respond in the same way.
It sees to us that bully boy tactics won’t work and that Greenpeace will fail if their demands are unreasonable. Already NFI have written to retailers with major concerns about Greenpeace’s approach. Certainly, we, at Callander McDowell, would argue that any attempt to reduce the fishing pressure on the world’s oceans can only be brought about if the market can source alternative supplies and clearly the only alternative is to increasingly rely on farmed fish.
Greenpeace cannot have it all ways. The reality is that consumers want to eat fish and if we really want to protect the oceans, we need to give them chance to recover and to do this we need to reduce the fishing pressure. Until, Greenpeace can offer another option, then we must continue to live in the real world and that is one that includes farmed fish.
Carlton and custard: Back in 2004, a press release from the then Scottish Quality Salmon announced that Scottish Farmed Salmon was to be awarded the illustrious Protected Geographic Indication denoting a product with a specific quality and characteristic arising from an identified geographic origin. This award was expected to bring many advantages to the Scottish salmon farming industry especially in relation to promotional and marketing opportunities in existing and new export markets in an expanded EU.
As we now know, rather than capitalise on such marketing opportunities, the Scottish industry directed its attention to bringing yet another dumping case against its market competitors instead. PGI status has brought little in the way of benefits to the Scottish industry.
PGI and the associated Protected Designation of Origin were introduced in 1993 by the European Commission to protect the integrity and reputation of agricultural foodstuffs with an identified origin. However, the expectation of market benefits has prompted many producers to register names that have little recognition in the marketplace. Only a few well known names have benefited such as Parma ham, producers of which fought and won a well publicised case against UK supermarket Asda who sold a similar product produced else-where but labelled as Parma ham. Whilst some producers might try to benefit from well-established names, it is unlikely that many would try to benefit from using some of the names that appear on the EU list of protected names.
Scottish producers applied for PGI because they believed that overseas producers were selling their fish as Scottish but the reality is that consumers are just as happy to buy salmon from other producers as they are salmon from Scotland even when it is clearly labelled.
We, at Callander McDowell, have considered PGI/PDO status as something of a pointless exercise and when we look at some of the products that are protected we wonder if it is also something of joke. A recent report in the Daily Express now appears to confirm our view.
Residents of Carlton in West Yorkshire want to change the name of their village to ‘Rhubarb’ so that they can apply for PDO status for their rhubarb. Carlton is situated in an area of West Yorkshire between Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield known locally as the ‘rhubarb triangle’. Although rhubarb comes from Siberia, West Yorkshire has been at the forefront of production for over 150 years due to a combination of the soil, weather and the use of forcing sheds where the plant is encouraged to grow fast in the dark. The local producers association says that British fans of rhubarb are fed up with the inferior tasting outdoor Dutch version often sold in supermarkets. However, the award of PDO status will not change anything. Imported rhubarb will still be called rhubarb even if Carlton residents change the name of their village to Rhubarb because that is exactly what it is. British rhubarb will need to be sold with its geographic identification such as West Yorkshire rhubarb or something similar. Of course, if the village does change its name then it could be called rhubarb rhubarb!!!