The Dutch are known around the world for many things: one is their height – they are the tallest population on the planet. Another is that they cycle everywhere. They are also known for telling it how it is – Dutch directness is one of their most well-known (and most loved?) stereotypical traits. What they are not well-known for, however, is their appreciation of great gastronomy or their ability to cook like Michelin-starred French chefs ... Let’s delve a little deeper into what determines consumer cooking habits in the Netherlands and why this affects the range of shrimp products on offer, what the Dutch supermarket playing field looks like, and how you can go about entering it.
Price Trumps Quality
There are several factors that influence what supermarkets in the Netherlands sell. Adding to the list of stereotypical traits, and an important consideration when discussing the shrimp offering, is that the Dutch are known for their tight purse strings and shrewd shopping habits. This particular trait, it has to be said, has some basis in truth and seemingly influences consumer habits: The Dutch clearly favor price over quality.
Other factors influencing Dutch consumer habits are an apparent lack of knowledge of the different types of shrimp, the variety of tastes available and, of course, the quality. When choosing shrimp, type, taste and quality tend not to be considerations for Dutch consumers and they look more for ease of preparation. Such limited knowledge about how to prepare fish and seafood in general results in the supermarket shelves being dominated by pre-prepared and easy-to-cook products. But what does this mean for exporting shrimp to the Netherlands?
Well, one thing we know is that price and ease of preparation are highly influential factors in terms of what we can find available at the fresh and frozen counters of supermarkets. This drive for ever lower prices is a particularly common phenomenon in north-western Europe whose supermarkets have engaged in price wars following the 2008 recession. In this climate, discounters such as Aldi and Lidl have emerged as strong competitors for market share. When price competition is combined with an apparent lack of understanding about, and importance attributed to, the quality of shrimp products and how to prepare them, the result is an increasingly monotonous offering of exotic shrimp products available in Dutch supermarkets.
On the other hand, and somewhat contrary to this price/quality relationship, Dutch consumers are well versed in sustainability issues, and almost all supermarkets have committed to only selling ASC or MSC certified fish and seafood. Christine Absil, Director at the Good Fish Foundation, has told ShrimpTails that Jumbo and Ahold have made public announcements to only sell certified seafood and members of Superunie are hot on their tails. It is a real race to the top: If you want to make it in this market, you have to be prepared to jump through a few hoops.
The stats tell us that the Dutch do enjoy their fish and seafood. In 2015, they spent almost EUR 1 billion on it, with 50 percent of Dutch households opting to eat fish or seafood at least once a week, and 15 percent twice a week. In 2016-2017, total shrimp consumption of cold- and warm-water shrimp was 34,000 tonnes.
The Supermarket Monopoly
In the Netherlands, supermarkets are the largest distribution channel to consumers for food products and four supermarket chains – Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Aldi and Lidl – dominate the Dutch market. In 2016, the share of supermarkets in fish and seafood sales in the Netherlands was around 62.5 percent and the total turnover of fish and seafood was around EUR 600 million. Combined, cold- and warm-water shrimp sales in supermarkets accounted for 12,000 tonnes in 2016-2017 (36 percent of total shrimp consumption in the Netherlands).
If we are to agree that statistics point towards supermarkets monopolizing the food retail industry in the Netherlands, the result is that they have an overwhelming influence on the food we buy and eat. This is largely cultural. In southern European countries, for example, supermarkets have their place, but often they are not the single dominating force behind fish and seafood retail: Markets, for example, still thrive and are regularly visited by many, as are smaller independent – often specialized – fishmongers. What’s more, in such countries, HOSO shrimp is commonly found, but northern European supermarkets only sell HLSO shrimp, and the majority are also peeled and deveined, revealing a clear difference in how northern Europeans expect their products to be sold.
Sales figures show that cold- and warm-water shrimp sold at supermarkets’ fresh counters – i.e. sales of refreshed exotic shrimp – are gaining market share compared to frozen cold- and warm-water shrimp. In recent years there has been a strong shift in Dutch supermarkets’ trends to selling Pacific white shrimp (L. vannamei) mainly sourced from Vietnam and Ecuador as these are the most common sources of ASC-certified shrimp. Small volumes of black tiger shrimp (P. monodon), especially the larger sized shrimp, are still available but are losing market share due to their increasingly high prices.
Let’s now reach to the back of the shelf and take a closer look at what the Dutch put into their baskets: How are sales divided between fresh and frozen shrimp in Dutch supermarkets?
Frozen and Refreshed Product Sales
The frozen shelves are dominated by supermarkets’ own-brand products. Here, you will normally find a combination of raw-frozen and cooked-frozen HLSO or peeled products. Taking a closer look at the biggest Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn, it offers 21 exotic shrimp products as part of its frozen seafood selection. For current price information, see the info graphic. This includes nine own-brand products and comprises regular as well as value-added products, such as ready-skewered and battered variants. All but one of the frozen products are ASC certified. While most frozen shrimp is sold in packages of between 400-500g net weight, Albert Heijn has also introduced smaller-sized packages, most likely as a way keep the product affordable.
If we look at the second largest chain, Jumbo, this supermarket offers only six frozen shrimp products. Jumbo also has a somewhat innovative concept: An open freezer containing individually quick frozen (IQF) shrimp and other seafood products that consumers are free to package themselves, allowing consumers to decide how much shrimp they want to buy, or rather how much money they want to spend.
Fresh exotic shrimp is not sold in Dutch supermarkets. All products available at the fresh counter are refreshed. Contrary to the fresh counters found in southern European supermarkets, in the Netherlands all fish and seafood is pre-packed. Package sizes are usually relatively small, ranging from 100-150g. Unlike the products available in frozen form, exotic cultured shrimp sold at the fresh counter often competes with cold-water shrimp from the North Sea, Norway and Canada, and with warm-water, wild-caught shrimp from South America (particularly Suriname seabob shrimp).
All shrimp products are offered peeled and deveined and most products, especially the cultured exotic shrimp, are treated with phosphates or non-phosphates as a way to keep prices low.
What’s more, to cater to Dutch society’s lost ability – or perhaps willingness – to prepare shrimp themselves, these products usually have catchy names that give ideas about how to cook them: It is not uncommon to see shrimp marketed as cocktail, tapas or wok (stir-fry) shrimp. Going one step further in pandering to Dutch consumer habits, shrimp are often pre-flavored with garlic or other herbs and spices as a way to make cooking easier and ultimately save time when preparing them.
The biggest suppliers for Dutch supermarkets’ fresh products include Klaas Puul, Heiploeg, Morubel, Foppe Paling and Zalm. There are multiple players active in supplying the frozen section, including companies such as Seafood Connection, Fisherman’s Choice and Anova. While the companies supplying the frozen counter mainly purchase retail-ready packed frozen product at origin, the companies supplying the fresh counters mainly purchase bulk packages of peeled (and sometimes cooked) products. Companies including Klaas Puul and Heiploeg have their own processing facilities where they defrost the bulk frozen products, further process them according to the requirements of the supermarket and pack them ready to be sent to distribution centres.
Trying Your Luck in the Dutch Shrimp Market
So, what does all of this tell us about doing business with supermarkets in the Netherlands? First of all, with increasing demand for good-value and higher volumes of shrimp, the figures tell us that selling shrimp in the Netherlands is a potentially lucrative business. Selling to Dutch supermarkets, however, is a highly specialized area requiring a flexible yet well-organized operation. Supermarkets in the Netherlands dominate the food retail sector and they demand a lot from their suppliers in terms of pricing, volumes and logistics. They also require suppliers to maintain continuous stocks, despite providing no guarantees in terms of purchase volumes themselves. Dutch supermarkets are much smaller retail organizations compared with those active in the US, and volumes purchased by Dutch retailers are therefore comparatively smaller.
To enter this market, exporters and importers should be financially strong and able to handle the financial risks of supermarket contracts, such as uncertainty about actual purchase volumes, potential recalls and price volatility, all considerations associated with long-term contracts. It is also wise to be aware that supermarkets in the Netherlands generally tender separately for the fresh and frozen counters and work based on tender processes consisting of a few rounds of different price-specification combinations. Supermarkets mostly open the tender to a fixed number of suppliers for each product type. Joining the short-list of suppliers able to tender for a particular product could prove difficult at first and one potential solution would be to co-tender with an importer already on the shortlist.
Supplying Dutch supermarkets is all about having connections and building the right network. Attending European expos such as the Seafood Expo Global and the PLMA International Trade Show is a good way to connect with the decision-makers in Dutch super- market retail. It is important to remember that sourcing managers always look for: A proven track record of supplying to retail customers; proof of reliability; and steadiness in supply.
On the flip side, Dutch supermarkets are an interesting market and do present good opportunities. If you’re an exporter looking to do business with the importers who supply the 5,000 or so supermarkets in the Netherlands, be prepared to invest heavily in a professional team and, importantly, be aware that you will need to ensure ASC certification of your farms and BRC/IFS certification of processing establishments. This is one of the keys to doing business with Dutch supermarkets: Social responsibility, quality certifications and sustainably sourced products are all prerequisites when trying to find your way in this market. When such systems are in place, you will be in a strong position to access potentially long-term contracts and build stable relationships with your buyers.
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