reLAKSation 461
High prices – low sales: Bjorn Erik Stabell of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council told kyst.no that the high salmon prices of recent weeks has reduced the number of promotions in supermarkets and as a result, sales have fallen. He said that it is quite natural that sales should go down when prices go up, adding that those customers who stop buying salmon are mainly those who have taken advantage of the cheaper salmon offered during such promotions. The expectation is that those consumers who buy salmon, regardless of whether it is on promotion, will continue to buy salmon irrespective of the price.
We, at Callander McDowell, are not so sure. As prices have increased, the number of salmon promotions has decreased. As we have mentioned previously, stores have held prices by reducing the portion size and this has encouraged consumers to continuing buying salmon. Yet, there is only so much manipulation that can be undertaken. There is always a price at which consumers, however loyal, will be no longer prepared to pay for salmon and it seems that we may be very near that point. This is because after a period of price rises, nearly every UK supermarket now has salmon back on promotion in one form or another, including those stores at the top end of the market, which are usually less price sensitive.
Whilst Mr Stabell says that it is quite natural that sales should go down whilst prices go up, there is also a danger that the market could be damaged for good. After all, the major selling point of farmed salmon has been consistent quality, consistent availability and consistent price. High prices may be good for the farmer but there is no guarantee that they can maintained. The consumer does have a choice.
A disgrace?: Chef Roy Brett of Ondine restaurant in Edinburgh thinks that it is a disgrace that Wal Mart’s Asda supermarket have been selling frozen Canadian lobsters for just £3 each (NOK 28.28/€3.55/$4.57). He told Speciality Food Magazine that that we should value and protect our produce and that selling lobsters at £3 does not do this. Yet at the same time, Mr Brett says that the difference between Canadian and British lobster is like night and day.
Mr Brett describes his restaurant as a destination for discerning diners. Clearly, his customers are very different from those who shop at Asda so therefore it is somewhat surprising that Mr Brett speaks with such venom against Asda. Perhaps he is concerned that consumers will confuse the £3 lobster from Asda with that which he serves in his restaurant for £32 but it is unlikely that even the most naïve consumer would expect a £3 Canadian frozen lobster from Asda to taste the same as a fresh lobster caught locally in Scottish waters.
Mr Brett said he has tried cooking a Canadian lobster and it is like eating plastic. Of course as an experienced chef, his taste expectation will be very different from the typical Asda shopper. However, Asda are not the only store to sell Canadian lobster. Marks & Spencer sell a dressed Canadian lobster (184g) for £17.99. M&S are known for their high quality standards so clearly Canadian lobsters cannot be all that bad.
It seems that Mr Brett’s objections arises from the fact that he considers lobster to be a luxury dish and by selling a whole lobster for just £3, Asda could devalue the image of lobster in the marketplace. However, Asda also sell lobster under their ‘Extra Special’ brand at £7.48 for 340g so clearly they see lobster as having more than one market niche.
Whilst Mr Brett believes such offers are a disgrace, we at Callander McDowell applaud Asda. These £3 lobsters may attract consumers to try seafood which they otherwise would not be willing to try. The Scottish Government are keen for more Scottish consumers to eat more seafood. This value for money lobster and other such promotions may just provide that opening to new consumers who normally don’t eat fish and shellfish but the thought of a so called luxury food such as lobster for just three pounds may persuade them to actually make that buying decision. Such consumption should be encouraged.
Unfortunately, the Scottish Government seems to be more in tune with Mr Brett than with Asda as to how this should be achieved. We have previously discussed that the main thrust of the Government’s promotion took place at the Edinburgh Taste Festival (Entrance fee £16 on the day – equivalent to 5.3 Asda lobsters) which is also where Chef Roy Brett set up his Ondine Champagne and Oyster Bar. It is unlikely that the target audience of the Taste Festival was the typical Asda customer.
Mr Brett makes much of the fact that he serves local Eyemouth lobster in his restaurant. His website states that ‘Ondine has built relationships with local suppliers to ensure that the menu presents imaginative, yet simple dishes, which bring out the best ingredients Scotland has to offer’. It might be expected that Mr Brett includes the best Scottish salmon (farmed of course) on his menu but no, the two dishes mentioned on his sample menus, Gravadlax and Treacle cured salmon are made from MSC certified salmon. Whilst stressing the sustainability of these dishes, Mr Brett fails to mention that the salmon is wild Alaskan which makes a bit of a mockery of the talk about the Scottish provenance of the food he serves in his restaurant.
Whilst Mr Brett says that it is a disgrace that Asda are selling low cost lobster, the real disgrace is that Mr Brett thinks that lobster should be just kept for the discerning customer and not for the man in the street. It’s no wonder that more people don’t eat fish and seafood. That is the real disgrace.
Not what was paid for: Talking of MSC certified Alaskan salmon, we are indebted to Alaska’ Salmon Blog (http://alaskasalmonranching.wordpress.com/) for leading us to read about the experiences of nutritionist Marion Nestle.
Ms Nestle was treated to an all expenses paid trip to Alaska arranged and paid for by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to look at how salmon was fished and processed. Presumably the ASMI expected Ms Nestle to write about how Alaskan salmon would form an ideal part of the dietary advice recommended by the 2010 Dietary Advice Guidelines Committee, which has just filed its report. Included is the recommendation for Americans to eat two 4oz portions of fish and seafood a week, one of which should be rich in omega 3 fatty acids.
Instead, Ms Nestle expressed concerns about some of the practices she saw during the tour, which is probably not what the ASMI expected to hear.
Ms Nestle expressed concern about the amount of fish caught at one time. She says that she cannot imagine how such catches can be considered sustainable even when tightly regulated. She was also surprised by the size of the by-catch and the way that it was just discarded over the side.
Once the fish were sent for processing, she was surprised by the labour conditions in some of the processing plants where foreign workers from the Philippines and Eastern Europe are expected to work 12 to 16 hour days six or seven days a week for months at a time. She also witnessed how processing waste in some plants is simply ground up and flushed back into the local water courses although some plants she visited did send their waste for processing into fishmeal and pet food.
Finally, she was concerned about how fish in some plants were left at room temperature during breaks without any control or regulation.
The ASMI have worked had to promote an image for their wild Alaskan salmon. Ms Nestle’s report suggests that this image is tarnished and that wild Alaskan salmon is not all it seems. Critics of the salmon farming industry are keen to promote these wild salmon as the sustainable option as promoted by the ASMI. But like the consumer, the ASMI may not have got what they thought they were paying for.