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Tuesday, June 30, 16:40 GMT
Norway is OK
Insula's Morten Jensen said Norway has not been as hard hit when it comes to processing and operations in comparison to the United States, where seafood companies and the meat industry are roiling from continuing coronavirus outbreaks at plants. "We have avoided big interruptions in our production," he said.
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Tuesday, June 30, 16:35 GMT
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Tuesday, June 30, 16:29 GMT
A timely moment to cut down on food waste
"We have to find a way that newcomers are comfortable in cooking seafood,"Espersen CEO Klaus Nielsen said. The current situation presents opportunities to cut down on food waste, especially through packaging, he added.
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Tuesday, June 30, 16:25 GMT
E-commerce share doubled for Birds Eye
Despite the United Kingdom already being advanced in the E-commerce segment, Birds Eye's sales in the segment doubled from roughly 12 percent to 25 percent of its business, UK General Manager Steve Challouma said. "The biggest successes have been with the familiar things," he added.
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Tuesday, June 30, 16:23 GMT
Increased focus on E-Commerce
There is going to more focus on E-Commerce with people having found out how convenient it is amid the coronavirus crisis, Espersen CEO Klaus B. Nielsen said.
But the industry needs to be better in logistics, he added.
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Tuesday, June 30, 16:00 GMT
Pangasius is recovering quicker than other species
As restaurants reopen in the United States, pangasius has been recovering better compared to other species because it's more typically found in casual dining, Vinh Hoan CEO Tam Nguyen said. "Consumers are prioritizing casual over luxury dining," Nguyen said.
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Tuesday, June 30, 16:15 GMT
Salmon was the scapegoat in China
"Seafood was chosen as a scapegoat," said Seattle and China-based seafood processor Chang International owner Jerry Chang of the coronavirus controversy that recently occurred at Beijing's wholesale food market. "The coronavirus was also found in other samples, not just salmon," he said of the investigation into what happened at the store.
He added China's testing of Norwegian salmon imports is slowing down the fish's shelf life at Chinese supermarkets and is impacting the sales for other species, including whitefish.
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Tuesday, June 30, 15:55 GMT
Freezer capacity at home surges
Due to the coronavirus, more UK consumers have been purchasing freezers for their home, which may sustain the surge in frozen food consumption, Birds Eye UK General Manager Steve Challouma said.
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Tuesday, June 30, 15:45 GMT
Consumers not shifting species
Espersen CEO Klaus Nielsen said his company has not so far seen a concerted shift in species among consumers, although chilled sales are lower as shoppers reduce the number of times they visit stores.
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Tuesday, June 30, 15:45 GMT
Processors review Asia operations
In light of the coronavirus crisis, China will still remain the production hub for most products for some time to come, although those processing companies who have put all their eggs in one basket in Asia may be reviewing their decisions.
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Tuesday, June 30, 15:40 GMT
Whitefish was a beneficiary from the surge in demand
Frozen food giant Birds Eye has seen very little disruption from the sourcing side, Birds Eye UK General Manager Steve Challouma said.
Fish fingers sales also grew 60 percent year-on-year as more children were at home consuming the region's staple, he said. "Our main focus was availability in retail stores because that’s where the main pinch point has been."
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Tuesday, June 30, 15:30 GMT
Exports of pangasius to China fully recovered
Pangasius exports to China were able to fully recover by April after getting hit by COVID-19 turbulence. The industry got a hard hit in the other markets in April and May, especially in the US market, Vinh Hoan CEO Tam Nguyen said.
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Tuesday June 30 2020, 15:44 GMT
Espersen sees advantage from trade flows
Frozen fish block and portions giant Espersen has seen a small advantage from trade flows against a background of the COVID-19 crisis.
During the peak season, the company benefited from plentiful supplies of cod and haddock, while more raw material is coming to Europe "because we can act much faster," Espersen CEO Klaus Nielsen said.
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Tuesday June 30 2020, 15:05 GMT
Economic rebound from COVID-19 is uncertain
While economic growth is expected to significantly slow as the coronavirus spreads globally, a rebound is expected in 2021 but is uncertain, said Beyhan de Jong, senior seafood specialist at Rabobank. Analysts at the bank are currently forecasting a global GDP contraction of 4.1 percent for 2020 and a 4.3 percent expansion for 2021.
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Tuesday June 30 2020, 15:14 GMT
China market situation remains difficult
Some economies are moving out of pandemic better than others but scars have been left, including in the whitefish industry said Beyhan de Jong, senior seafood specialist at Rabobank.
While Chinese GDP contracted 7 percent in Q1 of 2020, some consumers still avoiding going out of home and the situation there remains difficult.
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Tuesday June 30 2020, 15:18 GMT
Chinese imports of US groundfish worst hit by COVID-19
While China’s groundfish imports are concentrated in March, April and May, it seems like COVID-19 has not interrupted this, said Beyhan de Jong, senior seafood specialist at Rabobank. China’s groundfish imports from Russia are the most important, but imports from the United States have been the most impacted from COVID-19, she said.
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Tuesday June 30 2020, 15:25 GMT
Increased frozen sales as consumers continue to cook more at home
Consumers in some countries such as Germany are slowly going back to restaurants but have changed their eating habits, said Beyhan de Jong, senior seafood specialist at Rabobank.
Some will continue to cook at home at least more often amid rising frozen sales and increased interest in frozen seafood generally, she said.
E-commerce sales remain above pre COVID-19 levels amid demand for new products.
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Tuesday, June 30, 15:00 GMT
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and welcome to the latest in IntraFish's series of live events, this time introducing an all star cast of global whitefish industry experts to discuss the industry's unique challenges into the future.
We will be hearing from Beyhan de Jong, senior specialist seafood at Rabobank; Steve Challouma, UK general manager at Birds Eye; Klaus Nielsen, CEO of Espersen; Tam Nguyen, CEO at Vinh Hoan; Jerry Chang CEO at Chang International and Morten Hyldborg Jensen, COO Whitefish at Insula. Stay tuned here for updates from our team who will be watching the event live.
