Gøta, Faroe Islands-based salmon producer Hiddenfjord is pivoting away from the Russian market.
Hiddenfjord previously sold 30 percent of its volume to Russia, but will redirect all of its product previously sold to Russian customers to the European Union and U.S. markets, Hiddenfjord Sales Assistant Torkil Petersen told SeafoodSource at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona on 27 April. Petersen said those two markets are facing a shortage of supply and as their foodservice and tourism sectors return to their pre-COVID levels.
“There is less fish in the market,” Petersen said.
Salmon production levels in both Norway and Scotland are down, Petersen said. At the same time, Hiddenfjord plans to increase its output, from 20,000 metric tons in 2022 to 22,000 metric tons in 2023.
“A lot of Faroese companies are expanding their output,” he told SeafoodSource.
According to the Nasdaq Salmon Index, prices for fresh Atlantic superior salmon, head-on gutted (HOG) from Norway, are up 56 percent over the past 12 weeks, reaching NOK 111.85 (USD 11.83, EUR 11.23). The Oslo Bors Fish Pool index has average salmon prices for three- to six-kilogram HOG salmon at NOK 115.17 (USD 12.18, EUR 11.57) per kilo, up 62 percent over the past 12 weeks.
In 2021, Hiddenfjord announced it would cease using air freight for its salmon shipments.
U.S. sales account for 40 percent of Hiddenfjord’s volume, the company’s CEO, Atli Gregersen, told SeafoodSource in October 2021. He said in tandem with developing the market for sea-freight fresh salmon, the company has also been trialing shipments of frozen salmon to China, which are refreshed close to market and sold as a chilled product.
Photo courtesy of Hiddenfjord
