Results market survey plaice

Jan Willem van der SchansRik Beukers

Jos SmitPresentation EAFE Workshop01-06-2010, Helsinki

Background

North Sea Fish Center Improve perspective of Dutch North Sea fisheries start with

plaice

Objective market survey Analysis of the Dutch plaice market and to provide insight

in the market position of Dutch plaice in UK, Sweden and Germany

Analysis of Dutch plaice market

5 Flatfish industry

3 Substitutes

1 Fleet & auctions 4 Market

2 Potential entrants

1 Fleet & auctions

Orientation on sustainable fishing techniques Fuel savings Reduced ecological impact

Market orientation is increasing MSC

2 Potential entrants

Access to processing market is relatively easy

Economies of scale hard to realize

Minimizing cost strategy

3 Substitutes

Increase of production of farmed fish, which are direct substitutes of plaice: Pangasius

Consequence: Flatfish industry shifts to other species Flatfish industry becomes less dependent on plaice

Import pangasius by EU (ton)Source: Eurostat

050,000

100,000150,000

200,000250,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008*

Vietnam China

4 Market: plaice exportsExportvolume from The Netherlands (ton)

(fresh, panready, frozen fillet+ 50% of fresh and breaded fillets)Source: CBS

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

2005 2006 2007 2008

Italy Germany UK Sweden

4 Market: EU marketshare Plaice is sold as frozen product Small market share in frozen fish market

Marketshares EU market in 2008Source: Eurostat

Plaice 20 kton; 2%

Pangasius 236 kton 21%

Other 888 kton; 77%

Current situation Dutch plaice market

5 Flatfish industryConsolidation difficult

New species, farmed fish

Less dependent on plaice

3 SubstitutesEconomies of scale farmed fish

Explosive increase EU imports pangasius

1 Fleet & auctionsSustainability

Fishing techniques

How to get higher prices?

4 MarketDecreasing exports

Mass product in frozen market

Opinion of buyers!

2 Potential entrants

Access is easy

Economies of scale hard to realize

Minimizing cost strategy

Results market survey (1)

“Do you want to talk with me for an hour about a fish that no one wants to eat?”

“Plaice is a grey fish” “Young people are scared to prepare plaice”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8UK UK UK UK UK Sweden Sweden Germany

Retail Retail Foodservice Retail Foodservice Retail Retail WholesaleMarketshare? (Euro's)

-Fresh +/- 5%-Frozen +/- 4% +/- 2%

Plaice consumer?-Older + + + + + + +-Wealthy + + + +

Why plaice?

-Traditional + + + + +-Typical flavour + + + + + +

1-2% +/- 1% 1-2% 1-3% +/-1%

Results market survey (2)

Differentiaton for plaice in market is difficult “Plaice is a medium/standard fish” “Plaice should be benchmarked with pangasius”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8UK UK UK UK UK Zweden Zweden Duitsland

Retail Retail Foodservice Retail Foodservice Retail Retail WholesaleScore in market?

-Quality +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- +-Small fillet + + + +-Comparable to: Panga Cod Panga Cod Panga Panga Panga

Haddock Tilapia Haddock Cod Tilapia

Which brands sold?-Private label + + + + + + +-A-brand + +Quality/price? Average Rel. exp. Rel. exp. Rel.exp. Rel.exp. Was exp.

Now OKType contracts?

-Long term (6-12 mnd) + + + + + + +

Price plaice fillets is relatively highPrice per kg fillet in 2008

Sources: Plaice NL auction price. plaice III,IV. Other: (CBS)

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

Cod Plaice Hake Pollock Alaskapollock

Pangasius

Retail prices (Euro/kg) june 2009

Netherlands GermanyFresh filletsPlaice 16.98Pangasius 10.98 - 11.90

Frozen fillets naturalPlaice 11.96 - 17.72Pangasius 3.89 - 5.82 11.60 - 17.27Pacific plaice 16.58 - 20.48

Breaded frozen filletsPlaicePangasius 15.90Pacific plaice 16.58

UK SwedenFresh filletsPlaice 10.50 - 23.39 13.90Pangasius 9.24

Frozen fillets naturalPlaice 12.60 - 13.22 9.70 - 13.90Pangasius 10.90 - 14.60 3.70 - 6.60

Breaded frozen filletsPlaice 5.70 14.50Pangasius 10.90 15.15

Results market survey (3)

“Sales of plaice should not be increased by introducing a premium label, but by using a combination of marketing and price actions”

“Premium label with a higher price would not be successful in Germany, for German consumers price is important”

“It would be good to have a story for plaice”  

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8UK UK UK UK UK Zweden Zweden Duitsland

Retail Retail Foodservice Retail Foodservice Retail Retail WholesaleMarket trends?

-sustainability + + + + + + +-growth consumption + + +Premium label? Possible No No No No No No No

-recession -small ms. -small ms. -panga -small ms. -small ms.

Higher price? Actions MSC 10% MSC 5% Actions

Market perspectives – ‘’experiences’’ for plaice ?

Market perspectives

Differentiation with focus on the source is becoming a trend: Real food

Producer oriënted retailer (Whole foods market)

Examples – fishermen in the supermarket

Examples: strawberry experiences

www.strawberrytree.com

Discussion

Initiatives from the past can offer a learning process for the future

Thank you for your attention

© Wageningen UR