Chilean trade body SalmonChile has partnered with Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon farmer Multi X to launch a social media contest to increase salmon consumption in the domestic market.
The campaign calls for Instagram users to upload salmon recipes to their stories section and tag both @salmonchile and @elmejorsalmon ("the best salmon," Multi X’s online sales platform). All recipes received by 4 April, 2022, will be uploaded to SalmonChile's profile, where followers can vote for their favorite. The recipe that garners the most likes will receive 50 kilograms of salmon, while the second- and third-place winners will get 20 and 10 kilograms, respectively.
“Chile is recognized worldwide for its salmon; it is part of our identity and as a country we have the opportunity to produce a nutritious and sustainable protein for the future. That’s why we are promoting this contest that seeks to bring salmon closer to people, encourage its consumption and publicize the best salmon recipes prepared in the country,” SalmonChile Director of Communications and Public Affairs José Joaquín Valdés said in a release.
The two parties highlighted salmon’s environmental benefits, it being an animal protein with one of the lowest carbon footprints, the lowest water consumption, and the best efficiency in terms of consumption performance, when compared to other farm-grown proteins.
“Our proposal is to offer a versatile, rich, nutritious product in different formats and preparations that reaches people's homes directly from the origin - the Chilean Patagonia,” Multi X National Market Manager Cecilia Rojas said.
The move is a sign of a growing trend in Chile as seafood companies look to better cater to the local market, with some launching domestic brands to tap into promising consumption trends. The country's seafood consumption has been rising, and that is expected to continue, according to a study commissioned by Chile's Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) and provided by the Fisheries Development Institute. The study found annual per-capita consumption of seafood in Chile reached 15.8 kilograms in 2020, a 6 percent increase from the 14.9 kilograms registered in the previous year and from 13.2 kilograms per capita in 2013.
Fish is Chile's preferred seafood choice – the average Chilean ate 11.7 kilograms of it in 2020, of which salmon comprised 3.5 kilograms, up from 3.4 in 2019. However, Chile's seafood consumption still remains below the global per-capita consumption average of 20 kilograms per year, and Chilean Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture Alicia Gallardo believes Chile has potential for much greater uptake of seafood.
“A country with an extensive coastline such as ours should consume more seafood. We have to be able to continue promoting its preparations, nutritional benefits and, furthermore, educating Chileans on this matter,” Gallardo said last year, adding that the government will undertake new annual studies to study seafood consumption patterns and guide government policy.
Chile is the second-biggest producer of salmonids in the world after Norway, exporting to 104 countries and accounting for around 27 percent of global production. Its exports of salmon and trout totaled USD 5.18 billion (EUR 4.56 billion) in 2021, up 18.2 percent from in 2020, with a steady increase in demand noted throughout the year. Its main markets are the United States, Brazil, and Japan.
Photo courtesy of SalmonChile
