Canadian seafood buyers expect prices to rise even more in 2015 than the 3 to 5 percent range provided in a new report from the University of Guelph.
In its annual Food Price Report, the university found that meat and seafood prices will increase by 3 to 5 percent, in large part because of Canadian consumers’ growing demand for sustainable foods. In 2014, meat prices rose 12.8 percent and seafood prices increased by 5.9 percent, according to the report.
“Three to 5 percent would be a minimum,” Rob Reierson, CEO of distributor Tradex Foods in Vancouver, B.C., told SeafoodSource. “Prices have gone up a lot this year. Raw material prices of sockeye and chum salmon have gone up, and haddock prices have gone up incredibly. Shrimp prices have gone up quite a bit as well.”
Guy Dean, VP and chief sustainability officer at Albion Fisheries in Vancouver, B.C., agrees that prices will likely be stronger than predicted. A 3 to 5 percent price increase would actually be “a bit of deflation, compared to what has happened the last couple of years,” he said.
In 2014, buyers saw double-digit price increases on scallops and prawns, Dean said. “We continue to hear about higher availability of shrimp, but we aren’t seeing the prices reflect that. We have seen the prices stay high but remain relatively stable,” he said.
Canada’s seafood prices were also stronger throughout 2014 because “sustainably minded consumers were looking for those products and paying higher prices,” according to Dean. “In general terms, because of the cost of traceability and doing things special for sustainability, it does demand a premium.”
The University of Guelph researchers also found that consumer demand for sustainability is driving up overall prices. “Fish, in particular, is at the forefront of the Canadian sustainability discussion, as consumers are growing attentive to where fish is coming from,” the report stated.
