Salmon prices and demand in Switzerland are expected to remain strong due to the country's increasing fish consumption and a growing preference for local production, Swiss Alpine Fish (SAF) CEO Julian Connor said in a webinar organized by Norway's SpareBank 1 Markets.
The company, which is planning to expand its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Lostallo, Switzerland, as Undercurrent News previously reported, is of the believe that the COVID-19 crisis will bring positive effects in the long-term.
"I am a great believer that salmon prices are going to stay strong for at least the next 15 to 20 years," said the head of the recirculating aquaculture system-based firm. "We've seen some positive developments despite the COVID-19 crisis, such as many more consumers favoring local consumption, which we believe is a global trend that is likely to continue in the coming years."
Read also
Salmon is the most consumed fish in Switzerland, according to the firm. However, domestic production still remains limited -- around 4,500 metric tons per year, which is the equivalent of just under 25,000t of whole round fish.
"It has the potential to grow," Connor added. "Switzerland has always been an important trade partner for EU fish and seafood products. Because Swiss local-produced fish consumption is still very low, the Swiss fish market always depended greatly on imports, mostly from EU member states."
According to the latest report from the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products, Swiss fish and seafood imports reached €728 million ($796m) and 76,216t of fish in 2016.
"Salmon imports more than doubled last 10 years to 14,615t in 2018," CFO Marcel Ruegg stated. "Adding smoked, packed, frozen and tinned salmon imports, the total round fish equivalent surpassed 24,000t. Swiss fish consumption has also risen 25% in just three years to 9.1 kilograms per capita per annum."
SAF said 25% of all imported fish into Switzerland is salmon, from which 55% is fresh and 24% smoked.
"Salmon generated CHF 117.3m ($120m) in retail sales in 2018, up 7% year-on-year. In terms of volumes, 3,293t of salmon were sold through retailers, up by 2% on 2017," Ruegg explained.
"This shows how demand for local-produced products in Switzerland is growing stronger and stronger every year, and we need to take advantage of this window of opportunity."
The salmon farmer previously said it was its intention to invest in its capacity by building an expansion on-site, since it is currently seeing demand from all of its customers for at least three-to-four times capacity.
Currently, 93% of the company's salmon is sold fresh, head-on, and gutted. Only the other 7% is further processed, according to Ruegg.
"This small percentage already means 25% of our total revenues and we are also looking to double, or even triple, this figure," he said. "Our retailers are constantly demanding more premium products from us."
Buying online
The COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a change in the patterns of consumption and behavior on the part of all key actors, especially companies and consumers, according to SAF.
"What we've seen is more and more people doing their shopping online. In recent weeks, we therefore decided to strengthen all our delivery processes to our retail clients via our online shop," Ruegg explained.
The salmon farmer also owns a local farm shop which, according to Connor, wasn't planned from the beginning of SAF's salmon farming project.
SAF's farm shop in Lostallo, Switzerland, closed due to COVID-19. Credit: Swiss Alpine Fish
"This little farm shop wasn't included in our plans when we started but only last year we made over half a million in revenue thanks to it," he stated. "For safety reasons and to mitigate the COVID-19 risks, we had to close it down. Until a few days ago, only our online sales channel had remained open."
"In this way, although distribution through the horeca [hotels, restaurants and catering] channel has come to a standstill, we have been able to continue selling our products and our sales have increased 25% y-o-y to CHF 1.6m in the first quarter of the year," he added.
In 2019 and its first year of production, SAF produced 320t of fish and generated a sales revenue of CHF 4.2m. The company expects to produce 450t in 2020 and generate a revenue of CHF 6m.
SAF targets an additional 550t for 2021, to reach full capacity and double its annual sales revenue to about CHF 8m.
"consumption" - Google News
May 27, 2020 at 04:02PM
https://ift.tt/2X5yrKr
Swiss RAS farmer positive on salmon prices, consumption despite COVID-19 - Undercurrent News
"consumption" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WkKCBC
https://ift.tt/2YCP29R
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Swiss RAS farmer positive on salmon prices, consumption despite COVID-19 - Undercurrent News"
Post a Comment