Demystifying Prawns

Cod has historically been, and continues to be, a significant species in the worldwide seafood market. Market players have always had to adapt to changes in catches, quotas, and prices. Written by Ditte Lund Since the Middle Ages, cod has been a crucial food source and trade good. During the peak years of the 1950s and 1960s, massive catches were recorded globally, particularly in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. However, the depletion of some stocks led to a decline in the 1980s and 1990s. Currently, catches and quotas are increasing, while prices are decreasing. This article will discuss the present market situation for cod and attempt to distinguish between different stocks. Less than 2% of the catch comes from Greenland. At present, the major players in the Atlantic cod fishery are Norway, Russia, and Iceland. These three countries account for over 80% of the annual catches, exceeding 1,000,000 tons, while the remaining 15-20% is shared among approximately 20 different countries, with the Faroe Islands and the US being two of the largest. In 2012, catches from Greenland made up approximately 1% or 10,500 tons of the total Atlantic cod catch. The largest markets for cod are currently Portugal (salted), the US (frozen and fresh fillets), and the UK (frozen fillets). Slightly more than half is sold to retail, with the remainder split between foodservice and industrial sales. Size is important. About a third of the total Atlantic cod catch is used for fillets/blocks, with the rest divided between headed and gutted, fresh, and salted/dried cod. However, securing enough raw materials to meet the demand for frozen fillets may be a future challenge. The average size of the cod caught by the large Norwegian and Russian fisheries in the Barents Sea is currently 4 kg and increasing. However, the main filleting facilities in China are designed for smaller cod of 1-2 kg, which is also the preferred size of frozen cod fillets used in the European foodservice markets. The cod from Greenland is generally smaller in size, 1 to 2 kg, and the locally produced fillets from Paamiut fill the gap left in the market by the Barents Sea cod. After years of fluctuation, cod prices have been stable due to an abundance of available cod, resulting from higher quotas and less demand from Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Since 2010, the market price (raw material price for headed, gutted cod delivered in China) has ranged between 2.10 EUR/kg and 2.90 EUR/kg. In 2013, prices have been stable just below 2.10 EUR/kg, and the forecast for 2014 is stable at the same level. The current low prices have led to a substitution of haddock with cod in the UK market, as haddock prices have increased by around 1 EUR/kg in 2013, due to lower supply. This substitution is particularly noticeable in the foodservice industry, but the trend is also beginning to appear in retail. At Royal Greenland, we provide both cod purchased on the global market and from our own Greenlandic fishery. About a third of the total RG cod sale is from Greenlandic raw materials. The product range includes both an offshore trawl fishery producing Frozen at Sea from FAO27, the Barents Sea, and a unique inshore trap- and line catch. The Greenlandic cod only makes up around 1% of the world market, however, the catching method using trap fishing, handling each fish by hand, compared to the normal offshore industrial trawl fishery, gives it potential for growth. The cod market is generally seen as quite uniform, and in that sense, cod has become a commodity. However, there are opportunities to differentiate stocks, catching and production methods – for example, Barents Sea vs. Pacific cod, trawl vs. trap catch, Frozen at Sea vs. single frozen vs. double frozen. This allows restaurateurs, retailers, and consumers to distinguish themselves. An example of this could be the Greenlandic cod, which is unique in terms of catching method, origin, and processing.