– We prefer cod, but we buy salmon as before. We have caught the news, but I trust that the fish producers are doing things right and that the fish is safe, says Gitte Forthun. She stops by the fish shop in Sandvika and buys cod fillets for dinner. Managing director Arne Austbø at the Gutta fra havet fish shop feels that there is great interest in salmon. – We have a large demand for salmon. The fish is famous and good. Now before Christmas, there are extra people who want to buy salmon, the fish is part of Norwegian Christmas traditions, says Arne Austbø. Even in the large food chains, it seems as if negative news has not affected the sales statistics. BUYERS AS BEFORE: Gitte Forthun visits the fish shop in Sandvika and buys fish from Eirik Diesrud in Gutta fra havet Photo: Anne Cecilie Remen / news – Salmon sales appear very stable, says Kine Søyland, head of communications at Norgesgruppen. – We cannot see that the sale of salmon has been affected at all when we look at sales over time, she continues. Rema 1000 reports the same. There, a campaign has led to an increase in sales of fresh salmon of as much as 16 per cent, while sales of frozen fish have been stable compared to last year, says Line Aarnes, category and purchasing manager at Rema 1000. This autumn, news has revealed several objectionable conditions at the salmon farm. Among other things, that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority believed that sick and self-dead salmon were on their way to consumers, that salmon that was considered wrecked was sold as a premium product and that Israel sent smelly, Norwegian salmon back, and that along the coast from Møre to Trøndelag there was a mass death of fish in the cages in the breeding facilities. Buy more frozen salmon The organization Sjømatbedriftene was shocked by the revelations. Managing director Robert Holmøy Eriksson said that it helped put the entire industry in the corner of shame. – The feedback is crystal clear. People are frustrated, disappointed and shaken by news’s reports. Such incidents help to throw the entire industry under the bus and tear down our reputation, Eriksson said in November. Norgesgruppen’s stores sold the same amount of fresh salmon in November this year as last year. And for frozen red fish, sales have actually increased by around 8 per cent, says Søyland. – It does not appear that the negative reports related to animal welfare have affected the sale of salmon, she states. Søyland believes that part of the explanation may lie in the fact that people forget quickly. – There will be an announcement, and then there will be a round in the Debate, and if nothing more comes of it, it won’t stick with people either, says Søyland. More aware consumers But one thing may seem to have changed this autumn. Fish health is something people have become concerned about. HAPPY FOR GOOD SALES: Eirik Dieserud and Arne Austebø feel that customers want salmon despite negative news about the farming industry. Photo: Anne Cecilie Remen / news – The conversations over the counter are clearly different than before. People ask where the salmon comes from, who is the producer, whether we know the producer, what food the fish has been fed and how the fish has been. People have become concerned with fish welfare, says Austbø in Gutta fra havet. The customer Gitte Forthun pays and takes the goods with her. On the way out, she says: – Maybe I trust the producers a little too much, but I think that what I buy here is safe, and that the fish in places like this is of good quality.
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Sales have increased – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
