Saving Seafood

Economic Impact

US seafood price inflation declines in all areas except frozen

May 2, 2023 — Overall U.S. retail seafood inflation dropped in the first quarter of 2023, which benefitted all sectors of the industry but frozen sales, according to new data shared at Elanco’s “Seafood in U.S. Retail” webinar on 2 May.

Total food and beverage inflation spiked 11.3 percent in the first quarter of this year compared versus the first quarter of 2022, but frozen seafood prices rose only 3.9 percent, fresh seafood prices were up 2.2 percent, and shelf-stable prices rose 3.7 percent, 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink said during the webinar, citing data from research firm Circana.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

World economies continue to grapple with the ripple effects of inflation

April 25, 2023 — Heading into the second quarter of 2023, inflation remains a concern for all industries worldwide, seafood included, according to Kroll Institute Global Chief Economist Megan Greene.

“Inflation is top of mind for many, many businesses. I think there’s a real risk that inflation remains elevated and persistent. I think the probability of that is really high and I think that the impact of that would be pretty high,” Greene, who will deliver the keynote address at the 2023 Seafood Expo Global/ Seafood Processing Global, said in March.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

The First Eel Aquaculture Farm In The U.S. Is Raising Elvers For The American Sushi Market

April 19, 2023 — If you’ve eaten at a sushi restaurant, you might have come across eel on the menu. But did you know that most eel which makes its way to plates in America is caught here and raised overseas?

American Unagi raises the fish in Maine as the only land-based eel aquaculture company in the United States. They source eels from local harvesters in Maine and grow them in a recirculating aquaculture system on the Waldoboro coast. It’s done without hormones or antibiotics … or eels shipped across the world as tiny, clear, toothpick-sized juveniles and brought back as adults.

The company wrapped up construction on a $10 million, 27,000-square-foot facility in January to expand production of American eel to more than 500,000 pounds a year (or about 2 million eels).

Read the full article at Forbes

Private label sales grow as US inflation dampens seafood spending

April 19, 2023 — Overall U.S. food inflation and seafood inflation continued to dampen consumer spending power in March, pushing down retail seafood sales. However, private label seafood product sales are on the upswing, along with overall food and restaurant sales.

Fresh seafood prices realized “a small uptick” of 2.6 percent in March 2023 versus March 2022, 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink said, citing Circana data.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Cooke enters agreement with Abanca to negotiate purchase of 80 percent stake in Nueva Pescanova

April 13, 2023 — Betanzos, Spain-based bank Abanca entered an agreement to negotiate the sale of an 80 percent stake in Nueva Pescanova to Canadian seafood conglomerate Cooke Inc.

The exclusivity agreement, signed on Thursday, 13 April, places the valuation of the Vigo, Spain-based vertically integrated seafood firm at EUR 800 million (USD 884 million). The agreement requires Pescanova to continue to be headquartered in Vigo.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Gulf of Mexico shrimp landings steady in December 2022

April 11, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center has released preliminary shrimp landings data for December 2022 for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic.

Approximately 6.7 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic in December 2022, according to NOAA. For the total year, 119.7 million pounds of warmwater shrimp were landed in the U.S., down from its updated figure of 128 million pounds in 2021, a decline of 6.5 percent.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Private equity’s leveraged buyout food-shopping formula crumbling

April 11, 2023 — Inflation and higher interest rates are straining private-equity funds that used leveraged buyouts to buy into the food and beverage market in recent years.

Private-equity funds purchased 786 companies in the food and beverage space in 2021 for a combined USD 32 billion (EUR 29.5 billion). The total sunk to USD 9.7 billion (EUR 8.9 billion) through the first 11 months of 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, in part due to rising inflation and interest rates and geopolitical instability.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Drop in fish oil production causing aquaculture bottleneck

April 10, 2023 — Despite inflation, raw material prices, logistics costs, and other inputs all increasing significantly in 2022, the aquaculture feed industry increased its production at between 2 and 3 percent in all key supply regions. This was also achieved despite a slight decrease in the year’s total animal feed supply at less than 1.27 billion metric tons (MT), according to Norwegian independent commodity broker Holtermann.

While these financial impacts have continued into 2023, there’s one challenge that stands to have a much greater impact than all the others: the production of EPA and DHA – or eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, Holtermann CEO Christian Meinich said at the 2023 edition of the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA, Cornell Cooperative Extension hope to reboot market for monkfish

April 8, 2023 — From the first time television chef Julia Child hoisted a whole, ugly monkfish in front of her audience, early successes in marketing “the poor man’s lobster” showed how creative culinary and marketing campaigns could boost underutilized U.S. fisheries.

Now, a newly formed collaborative program aims to again boost U.S. domestic demand for monkfish – a stock at high population levels, and accessible close to home for Atlantic fishermen. Extending from Maine to New Jersey, it’s a regional push to “expand the audience and the markets that monkfish can fill,” said Tara McClintock, a fisheries specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Marine Extension Service in New York.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource