reLAKSation
45.
Chips with
everything: Alex Behrendt, columist in the Fish Farmer magazine, has
posed the question as to why none of his local fish and chip shops had ever put
salmon on their menu?
He tried deep fried salmon and
found it to be much to his taste but he was unable to obtain it locally. His own
local market research found that only 3 out of 42 ‘chippies’ had
experimented with salmon. He also enlisted numerous friends, relatives and
colleagues to enquire in their own locality. Their findings showed that only one
fish and chip shop offered salmon and chips as part of its regular menu.
Mr Behrendt expresses surprise
that the salmon industry has not explored this potential market further,
especially as statistics indicate that UK ‘chippies’ serve up to 277 million
fish and chip meals a year.
Yet, despite this huge market
potential, other observers would not be surprised by the absence of salmon from
UK chip shops. This is just another example of the market conflict disturbing
the modern salmon industry.
The underlying issue is not
whether salmon should appear on fish and chip shop menus, but what market image
does the industry really want for its salmon?
We, at Callander McDowell, have
previously discussed this issue on more than one occasion. The simple matter is
farmers must decide whether their salmon should be promoted as a high quality,
high value product or as a low cost, everyday meal option.
The increasing production volume
and the resultant downward pressure on prices has meant that salmon has become
much more of a value for money everyday meal choice, however, this does not mean
that the industry is actively promoting it as such. There is still hope amongst
some sections of the industry that salmon will be again viewed as a high
quality, high value product and that attempts to promote it otherwise will be
devalue it permanently. This is why salmon has never been promoted to the fish
and chip trade. Eating salmon out of paper wrapping or polystyrene trays is not
considered appropriate to high quality fish.
At the same time, fish and chip
shop owners have not probably considered salmon as a suitable addition to the
menu. This is because despite the low market price, salmon has always had an
up-market image.
Yet, there is no reason why low
cost salmon could not become a viable alternative to more expensive cod and
haddock. It could be promoted traditionally as salmon or alternatively, there is
no reason why low cost salmon could not be farmed specifically for the fish and
chip market. The seeming acceptance of organic salmon with low levels of
pigmentation could be extended to produce fish with no pigmentation. This would
make a viable alternative to marine white fish species, at a time when they are
increasingly in short supply.
Fish and chips are not the only
market, which has not been exploited by the salmon industry. There is too much
focus on the idea that salmon must be just one thing or another, when in reality
salmon could be many things to many different markets. The industry must start
to consider the potential for twin or multi-stream marketing so that every
section of the developing marketplace can be fully exploited. Perhaps, then Mr
Behrendt will be able to buy salmon and chips for his dinner.
Admirable salmon: Statistics
produced by TN Sofres has identified that Britain’s favourite frozen ready
meal is a fish dish. Admiral’s fish pie is a succulent
fish fillet in a delicious butter sauce, topped with potato and Cheddar cheese.
Admiral’s Pie is manufactured by Young’s Bluecrest, who have seen sales
rocket to 11 million packs per year. Another Young’s product, Ocean Pie, is
also in the top 5 with sales of 5.5 million packs per year.
The huge market penetration of
these added value products demonstrates the size of the potential market for
similar salmon products. Young’s Bluecrest have already developed a range of
salmon products including a salmon crumble. As more and more consumers recognise
that salmon is a viable alternative to white fish in these added value products,
then it cannot be too long before a salmon dish matches the same sort of sales
as Young’s Admirals Pie.
Of course, there is no reason
why only processors such as Young’s Bluecrest should benefit from these
developments. Similar opportunities exist for the salmon farmer to exploit this
market sector.
Prices (again):
With at least one supermarket chain cutting the price of fresh salmon to £2.20/kg
(equivalent to £1/lb), the price rise forecasted by some commentators appears
to have stalled.
According to Intrafish, Terry
Curran of Framgord in Shetland believes that the rising prices in the run up to
Easter have slowed down sales. This is what we would very much expect. Although
supermarket prices still do not reflect those at farm gate, consumers are now
used to low priced salmon. Any attempt to force prices upwards will simply deter
many of the new consumers who buy salmon because it’s low cost and as a result
the market will shrink.
High prices and high volume
production are not compatible. The industry must decide, which it wants.
However, we cannot see many of the large scale producers willingly cut back on
production when they have the potential to regain margin elsewhere in the supply
chain. Our view is that the industry must capitalise on low cost, high volume
production. There is little choice.