reLAKSation 36.
Christmas Offers: In the run up to Christmas, British supermarkets have again offered salmon at discounted prices. These are summarised as follows, together with the prices recorded last year:
Asda.
December 2001.
Whole fresh salmon £3.19/kg
Whole prepacked salmon £3.99/kg
December 2000.
Whole prepacked salmon £4.20/kg
Morrisons:
December 2001.
Whole salmon - fresh and prepack £4.38/kg
December 2000.
Whole salmon - fresh and prepacks £4.48/kg
Safeway:
December 2001.
Whole fresh salmon £4.99/kg
Fresh salmon fillet £6.99/kg
December 2000.
Whole prepacked salmon £8.98/kg
Sainsburys:
December 2001.
Fresh whole salmon £3.49/kg
Whole salmon prepack £4.49/kg
December 2000.
Whole fish £4.63/kg
Tesco:
December 2001.
Fresh whole salmon £3.19/kg
December 2000.
Fresh whole salmon- fresh and prepacked £3.24/kg
Waitrose:
December 2001.
Fresh whole salmon £4.99/kg
In most of these examples, prices are in line with those found last year. This is despite the lower price of salmon this year.
Supermarkets continue to use salmon in their Christmas promotions and although prices have been significantly discounted, sometimes by 50%, supermarkets remain unsure as to whether they should continue to promote salmon as a luxury product or as an everyday food, which would better reflect current prices.
Le saumon fume: Prior to Christmas, Intrafish conducted a mini survey of smoked salmon products available in three French supermarkets and appear surprised by the wide variation in packs and prices. They looked primarily at packs of 4 slices weighing between 150-160g and found that prices ranged as follows:
Scottish: £21.71 - £35.21/kg
Irish: £22.33 - £31.50/kg
Norwegian: £20.02 - £32.62
In each national grouping, the highest prices are those products, which have been awarded the Label Rouge. However, French consumers are faced with such a wide choice of smoked salmon products that it can be extremely confusing as to which product is best, whether Label Rouge or not.
In the UK, the situation is much clearer. Each supermarket group tends to offer smoked salmon under its own label. One or two also carry a premium range, but this is still own label. The small packs, which were the focus of the Intrafish French survey, are also available to the British consumer. However, at this time of year, all the UK supermarkets have promoted large packs on special offer. The difference in price between these larger packs can be seen in our own survey of British supermarkets. The price is per kilo for the different sized packs:
Asda:
100g - £19.80/kg
400g - £12.47/kg
Morrisons:
100g - £9.90/kg
400g - £9.47/kg
Safeway:
100g - £29.90/kg
400g - £12.47/kg
Sainsburys:
125g - £29.52/kg
400g - £17.47/kg
700g - £12.12/kg
Tesco:
100g - £18.90/kg
400g - £12.47/kg
Waitrose:
70g - £29.85/kg
140g - £27.78/kg
400g - £17.47/kg
The lowest priced smoked salmon was found in Morrisons and this is compatible with the price of the cheapest smoked salmon found in France. However, because the French product was available in a smaller pack, it is likely that it was not comparable to that found in the UK.
Whilst most UK supermarkets tend to focus on their own label products, there are a few exceptions. At least one store offers Irish smoked salmon as an alternative, although the price is not significantly different. One store, a discounter, offers branded Norwegian smoked salmon and although this is frozen, it is the cheapest smoked salmon available in the UK. This costs £7.98/kg.
A couple of stores also sell branded smoked salmon, although these tend to be smaller store groups. This year, one of the main stores also offered the same branded salmon in the largest pack size. The difference in price between pack sizes is significant:
Macrae smoked salmon
50g - £33.80/kg
400g - £9.97/kg
One or two of the stores also offer wild smoked salmon, either as own label or branded. The most expensive of these is a branded product, Foremans, at £49.95/kg.
However, one of the most surprising anomalies occurs with smoked salmon products offered through the main London department stores, such as Harrods and Selfridges.
Many commentators would have us believe that the best smoked salmon is Scottish fish, which has been smoked in Scotland. However, the British tradition for smoked salmon developed through some of the immigrants, who have made the UK their home. A large number of smokeries developed around the East End of London producing smoked salmon with a very delicate flavour. This is now known as the London smoke. This is still widely available and stores such as Selfridges offer own label smoked salmon with either the stronger Scottish smoke or the more delicate London smoke. Prices can often exceed the supermarkets range of smoked salmon products.
The Intrafish survey found that prices of smoked salmon in France can vary significantly. This is also true of the UK market, although prices do vary with pack size. However, at this time of the year, prices have often been heavily discounted, which can distort any view of the marketplace.
Rising prices (again): Yet again various commentators are predicting a price rise for salmon during 2002. As passionate advocates of all things aquaculture, we would be delighted if all salmon farmers were to make huge profits and if this meant higher prices, then so be it. Unfortunately, we cannot share this optimism for rising prices during 2002, although we hope we are proved to be wrong.
We all know that prices are currently low and these can be attributed to the lack of any market led strategy. Salmon is still being produced without any real consideration of the markets for which the fish are intended. Whilst there is clearly a market demand for all the fish produced, too many fish are reaching the same markets at the same time and this has forced down prices. For prices to rise something has to change and so far, there is no evidence for this. The only conclusion is that prices must remain low.
Many blame the rise in Chilean salmon production for undermining the price. According to IntraFish, signals from Chile now suggest that future growth may be zero, but this will still mean that production is at a similar level as today and therefore unless demand for higher priced salmon can be stimulated, prices are unlikely to rise.
Other signals from Chile suggest that significant numbers of smolts have been destroyed to try to ease future production pressure. A similar cull occurred in Norway in the run up to the 1996 dumping action and this failed to force a sustained rise in prices. Any response to the removal of smolts can only be delayed and this will also be the case.
Higher prices alone are not the answer. Instead. the industry must evolve in response to the marketplace. This is the only way that the salmon industry can progress forward without further market disruption.