French smoked salmon leader Labeyrie is spearing the natural-foods trend with the launch of a preserved, non-smoked Saumon Au Naturel.
“This represents a long-term, structural move,” said Stephane Billet, Labeyrie’s group marketing manager for France.
“There is huge potential in natural salmon," he told SeafoodSource. The launch squarely targets today’s demand for foods “with security, naturality and foods that are less transformed, and consumers know from where they are sourced.”
Rolled out onto the French market in March, the firm expects to sell some 30 metric tons of the new product, which is made from fresh Norwegian farmed salmon, between March and June this year, and 120 to 170 metric tons for the entire year, making it “as big as the organic range,” said Billet.
“Our long term plans are that natural salmon sales go much higher,” he underlined.
And in step with the long-term ambitions, Billet said brand extensions are on the horizon, with Labeyrie set to build on the range in the coming year.
While French consumers buy smoked salmon five times a year on average, a key objective for Labeyrie’s natural salmon product is to bring to market a salmon product that “is easy to consumer more often. The taste is light, it’s easily marinated or accompanied by a sauce.” The salmon “is not raw, it's dried and very much like smoked salmon in texture.”
When asked if the process for “au naturel” salmon comes in cheaper than smoked salmon, Billet said the process is “extremely challenging.” While the phenols in smoke serve a technical and bacterial role in preserving salmon, if the smoking is removed “the industrial reality is more complex than people expect,” he explained.
As such, Saumon Au Naturel retails at similar prices to the firm’s smoked salmon, EUR 3.99 for two slices and EUR 5.99 for four. The product has a shelf life of 21 days, compared to 28 days for smoked salmon.
