While smoked fish is traditionally popular in Northern European and Baltic markets, the rising consumer demand for these products from outside the E.U. has also seen a strong surge in member states’ exports, new data compiled by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EUMOFA) has found.
Led by salmon, which accounts for 65 percent of total volume, followed by trout, herring, mackerel, haddock, sprat, and eel, the total E.U. production of smoked fish in 2018 amounted to 257,400 metric tons (MT). This was 3 percent lower than the average over the last decade.
Within the category, the main producing countries were Poland, the United Kingdom, and Germany, which together accounted for almost 60 percent of total E.U. production.
Offsetting the modest decline in domestic smoked fish production, E.U. member states imported 8,068 MT of products worth EUR 64.6 million (USD 70.7 million) in 2018, representing increases of 4 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Of these imports, trout and salmon accounted for 47 percent and 36 percent of the total value.
Turkey was the main country of origin, providing 3,988 MT of products valued at EUR 30.3 million (USD 33.2 million). Most of these imports consisted of smoked trout.
Norway, Serbia, and China were the other main sources of smoked fish imports, with these trades valued at EUR 9.6 million (USD 10.5 million), EUR 7.9 million (USD 8.7 million) and EUR 6 million (USD 6.6 million), respectively.
The main markets for these imports were Austria with EUR 17.9 million (USD 19.6 million), Germany spending EUR 12 million (USD 13.1 million), and the United Kingdom with EUR 8.5 million (USD 9.3 million).
Meanwhile, the E.U.’s exports of smoked fish in 2018 amounted to 14,389 MT valued at EUR 238.4 million (USD 261.1 million). These totals were up 55 percent and 102 percent, respectively, compared with 2012.
Smoked salmon again accounted for most of the trade, with 89 percent of the total value at EUR 212.5 million (USD 232.7 million). EUMOFA noted that this was double the value achieved in 2012.
The main export markets were: Switzerland, which sourced EUR 70.2 million (USD 76.9 million) worth of smoked products in 2018, an increase of 128 percent since 2012; the United States with EUR 64.7 million (USD 70.9 million), up 63 percent since 2012; and Australia, which spent EUR 41.8 million (USD 45.8 million), a rise of 94 percent since 2012.
In 2018, the main exporting nations to third-countries were Denmark with a trade totaling EUR 60.8 million (USD 66.6 million), the Netherlands with EUR 59.9 million (USD 65.6 million), and Germany with EUR 52.5 million (USD 57.5 million). These three member states accounted for 73 percent of the E.U.’s smoked fish export trade.
With regard to smoked fish trades within the E.U., Poland is the bloc’s largest exporter by far, with its 2018 trade totalling 56,206 MT, valued at EUR 763.4 million (USD 835.9 million). Most of these exports were sent to Germany.
The other main exporters include Lithuania with EUR 257.4 million (USD 281.8 million), Germany with EUR 235.3 million (USD 257.6 million) and Denmark with EUR 182.1 million (USD 199.4 million).
Photo courtesy of Yevgen Belich/Shutterstock
