Seafood consumption in Germany has increased during the COVID-19 crisis, with salmon proving increasingly popular at retail, according to Bremerhaven, Germany-based seafood supplier Friedrich Wilhelm Lübbert GmbH & Co.
Speaking at this year’s North Atlantic Seafood Form (NASF), the company’s managing director, Sven Braasch, said Germany had its first pandemic lockdown between March and May 2020, and then a second one between November 2020 and May 2021, during which time the entire hotel, retail, and cafe (HORECA) segment was more or less closed, with restaurants only open for take-out.
Consequently, the main opportunities for consumers to buy seafood during these times was through the country’s supermarkets, discounters, and weekly markets, Braasch said.
“Unlike, for instance, the U.K. or U.S., delivery services for food are not quite as developed yet,” Braasch said. “Retail was the big winner, with the seafood category achieving growth of 16.5 percent in 2020, and as a result the seafood turnover in retail went up to EUR 4.1 billion [USD 5 billion].”
But the pandemic was in fact just one of the reasons behind seafood’s success in the German retail market, Braasch said. He told delegates that salmon has made great strides in recent years, and is widely available on fresh counters, on the shelves in smoked products, and in the frozen areas of grocery stores.
“These days you can find salmon packed in [modified atmosphere packaging] alongside meat. That means you have more places in the shops to find salmon in general, and also those shops without fresh counters are able to sell fresh salmon, like discounters, for example,” Braasch said. “Another point is the reputation that salmon has as ‘a safe product,’ and for a lot of people it’s still a high-quality and high-value product. Besides this, you will find salmon on almost every restaurant menu – it doesn’t matter if it’s a takeaway or one with a Michelin star.”
At-home salmon consumption in the German market increased from approximately 59,000 metric tons (MT) in 2019 to 72,000 MT last year, a rise of 22 percent.
“Of course, the pandemic has helped to increase these figures, but we also have good availability in the stores and a positive image, although from time-to-time, some negative press,” Braasch said. “Another positive sign is that you can find increased salmon consumption in all age groups, and this was increasing year-on-year before the pandemic.”
The reasons for the increase include “the acceptable pricing compared with good meat,” Braasch said, adding that “we have to take into account that German is a meat-dominated country.”
“Also, for more and more consumers, the health aspect is important, and salmon is well-known for its high omega-3 content, while the different certifications like [Aquaculture Stewardship Council] and GlobalG.A.P. give an additional benefit to the consumer,” Braasch said. “They believe that they are eating something safe and healthy. And the good news is that this successful journey has continued in 2021.”
Although Germany was still in lockdown with foodservice sectors shuttered, January’s sales of fresh salmon increased 43 percent, frozen sales were up 19 percent, and smoked salmon saw a 28 percent rise, Braasch said.
“Looking back at the market, we lost approximately 110,000 MT in HORECA, but we won 124,000 MT in home consumption, so overall there was a growth of 14,000 MT, despite the pandemic in 2020, and this should give all of us a positive view about the future of our business when we overcome COVID,” Braasch said.
Photo courtesy of Christin Klose/Shutterstock
