The fate of DEXIM Hidrobiologicos Congelados is intertwined with the price of hake, or merluza, as it is called in Paita District, Peru, where the company is based.
With major seafood companies including Trident Seafoods and American Seafoods making a strong push to export more Alaska pollock into the global market, merluza prices have been dinged and the market appears to be shifting, according to DEXIM Sales Manager Alexander Correa, who spoke to SeafoodSource at the 2019 Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium on 8 May.
“We have had good production of merluza in the Pacific, but competing against pollock has lowered prices a lot,” Correa said.
DEXIM, which operates a fleet of four trawlers and a processing plant, had USD 30 million (EUR 26.9 million) in sales in 2018, according to Correa, with about 50 percent of its volume and 80 percent of its value sold coming from hake. The company’s largest markets are the U.S. (where it counts Walmart as a customer), Brazil, and Africa, with Germany, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile serving as secondary markets.
Prices of frozen hake blocks have gone down between 15 and 20 percent over the past year or so, Correa said. DEXIM also sells pota (Humboldt squid), perico (mahi), scallops, langostinos, and anchoveta, and rising prices for most of those products have helped offset the downturn in hake prices, but it hasn’t been easy, Correa said.
“Even though our hake has great quality, we have to be more aggressive in pushing out our own product and searching out more markets,” Correa said.
Like other companies, DEXIM is moving towards creating and selling more value-added products. It recently released a new line of flavored rounded merluza portions it is selling in South America. The initial three flavorings are creole, fine herbs, and oriental, with a plan to introduce more flavor options – including paella – within the next year.
“The common denominator with our products is that the market is pushing us into value-added with all of them,” Correa said.
The line has thus far been introduced in the Cencosud and Metro supermarket chains in Peru, with plans to expand into Colombia and Brazil soon, he added.
