Dan Minchin

Marine Organism Investigations, Ireland

Coastal Research and Planning Institute, University of Klaipeda, Lithuania. September/November 2013

Developing a productHow to market your productEconomic issues

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Organic products have a limited lifeThe best before date does not mean that

subsequent to this date the food is unsafe to eat!

To extend the shelf life various methods are used

Many of these developed out of necessity at an early time because of seasonal production

Many of these early methods are still valid to-day

Resource development

Small scale to large scale management

Saving excessesReducing wastageExtending life of

productsDevelopment of

products for saleMany preservations

methods

Draws moisture from the tissuesSlows spoilage by micro-organisms

and fungiRetards oxidation of fats preventing a

rancid productCan firm flesh texture when used

laterExamples: Cod

Reduces water sufficiently to prevnt bacterial growth

Examples: Stockfish - gadoid fishes

Smoke is anti-oxidant and anti-microbal

Does not penetrate far into flesh

Often accompanied by drying

Artificial ‘smoke’ liquids used on some products

Many species high in fatExamples: salmon,

trout, mackerel, eelPossible risk of Colo-rectal cancer: Knekt et al., 1999. Int. J. Cancer 80(6): 852-856

Slows down the growth of micro-organisms and enzyme reactions that cause food to rot

Very useful in warm regions

Ice achieves the same result

Used for majority of aquatic products

Examples: most fishes, crustacea and molluscs

Extends shelf lifeMay alter qualityEconomicCan involve long term

storage of some products

Examples: most aquatic species

Removal of air within an air tight bag or bottle

Slows spoilage as many bacterial require oxygen

Short-term storage of fish products and kept cool

Examples: mainly fresh aquatic produce

Product in an edible anti-microbal liquid

Brine, vinegar, alcohol, vegetable oils, lactic acid

May be cooked beforehand

Examples: herring, pike, carp

Cooking food and sealing it

Results in sterilisation eliminating spoiling organisms

Care need as can be conducive for the anerobe Clostridium botulinum

Examples: sardines, salmon, fish eggs

Jellying – gelatin and agar based (eels, siphunculids) Lye – use of sodium hydroxide (Lutefisk) high odour! Potting – heated and sealed with fat (shrimp) Jugging – stewing (not known) Irradiation – ionising radiation (mainly spices, herbs) Pulsed electric field processing – low temperature pasturisation (not

known) Modified atmosphere – gasses, humidity (transport of live products) High-pressure food preservation – 500+Bar (developing technology) Burial in ground – desiccation (Greenland shark) Controlled micro-organisms – micro-organisms that combat spoilage

(beer) Biopreservation – lactic acid bacteria Hurdle technology – elimination of pathogens from food

Hakarl – fermented shark

Poisonous when fresh (uric acid, tri-methyamine oxide)

Beheaded and placed in shallow gravelly hole and pressed with stones

The shark ferments in 6-12 weeks, removed and dried

This varies according to:

ClimateEconomic

circumstancesResource availability SeasonalityEthnic preferenceSocial attitude

In Spain

• large volumes few species• pilchard fishery important• buyers from a large region• pilchard a primary fish product

In long lived deep water and pelagic predators

An event in Japan caused a serious nervous disease in ~1000 people

Condition is known as minamata disease

High levels known from swordfish, shark, tuna & tilefish

Gadus morhua

Gadidae Atlantic cod North Atlantic

Gadus macrocephalus

Gadidae Pacific cod North Pacific

Boreogadus saida

Gadidae Arctic cod Australia

Maccullochella peelii

Percichthyidae

Murray cod Australia

Scorpaena cardinalis

Scorpaenidae

Red rock cod Australia

Epinephelus diacanthus

Epinephalidae

Reef cod Indian ocean

Ophiodon elongatus

Ophiodontidae

Ling cod North-east Pacific

Species Family Range Marketability

Hippoglossus hippoglossus

Pleuronectidae

North Atlantic Quality flesh

Hippoglossus stenolepis

Pleuronectidae

North Pacific Quality flesh

Reinhardtius hippoglossoides

Pleuronectidae

Boreal species Adequate flesh

Product Origin Nature of product

Irish Sea salmon, steaks

Irish cultured or wild salmon

Steaks cut in Ireland

Irish Sea, salmon steaks

North Pacific pink salmon

Steaks cut in Ireland

Marketing will depend on the name

Rat-tails advertised in the 1980’s as a deep water fish for general consumtion

The name was changed to grenadier fish

Astaxanthin – from wild crustacea

Synthetically made from carotene for farmed fish

Tokyo fish market:• sea squirt/tunicate product• farmed off Honshu• local consumption

Philippines town market:• the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea• widely distributed• widely traded• spread to North America by Chinese• now in Europe• not eaten by Europeans• highly invasive impacting species

The periwinkle Littorina littorea• eaten in France, Britain and Ireland• not eaten in Scandinavian countries• foraged for on shores• survives alive a long time• so can be widely distributed

Spain

• need to know origin• need to know locality• need to know when collected

• must be carefully washed • must be carefully packed• no contaminants by other species

The Tokyo fish market:

• transport management• storage• facilities: running sea and fresh water• waste removal• • truck drivers• auctioneers• buyers• speciality shopkeepers (eggs, ink..)• cleaners• police• butchers• cooks

Tokyo fish market:• imported from all world regions • flown-in fresh• careful freezing process• variable quality with variable prices• careful examination before sales• bidding very keen• specialised places for carving flesh• specialised knives

• the nematode Anasakis not tolerated

Tokyo fish market:

• live fish• live molluscs• live crayfish

The puffer fish restaurant:

• require a licence and degree• toxin, tetradontotoxin in liver• also in other body tissues• must be carefully prepared • other products, fins in sake!

LOCAL MARKETSOldest marketingMainly in remote regionsLocal produceSeasonal, dried and salted

TRADING BLOCKSCommunications enhanced distribution

INTERNATIONAL TRADEWorldwide productsOften epicurean

What do consumers want?New productsExtension of existing productsFew ‘new’ products succeedContinuity of supplyProduct qualityCultural preferencesPromotionsDistributionPrice

The Philippines local marketing: • no or low transport costs • limited number of products• quality management poor• presentation basic• family business, culture to sales

Tokyo fish market:• products from all world regions• many specialised products• high quality• careful presentation• small and large businesses

Raw product availability (seasonality and continued supply)

Production costsMarketing costsTransport costsShelf-lifeAdvertising and

promotion costs

What type of consumers are you targeting

Basic to epicure foodsHighly specialised foodsUncontaminated product

What to do before sale:

• often time consuming• increase product value• reduces transport costs• may reduce shelf-life

Shellfish toxin events not always predictable

Marketing may cease if toxins exceed a safe level

National programmes for monitoring toxins

Prolonged events can endanger viable production

Unmonitored and unauthorised marketing can cause marketing problems for the entire industry

Tokyo fish market:• careful preparation• small sized portions• specialised packing materials• label of origin

AdvertisingPromotion samplesFollow-upGood and bad outletsMarkets or direct supplyPresentation and

labellingBusiness managementTaxation and returns

Underexploited resources ‘Unused’ bycatch (i.e. Brama brama)Improved energy supply (i.e. freezing)Different processing methods (i.e.

suremi)Greater availability of resource (i.e.

Rapana)

Aquatic species biotechnology

New drugs from the deep

In Japan

• careful preparation• high quality for take-away meals• high quality for fast restaurants

To evaluate differences, requires a control

Range of options 4+ (like extremely) to 4- disgusting

AppearanceAromaTextureFlavour

Quality of shellfish following an oilspill

Looks/tastes /sounds unappealing

Ethnic preferencesNational preferencesNot promotedPoorly marketedCost inefficientMortality in productionPoor recruitment in

productionBad management

Mislabelled fish products

April 2011: 6% of fish species not recorded on supermarket products.

Cheap fishes added to products with higher demands.

Independant study undertaken using DNA

Product Locality Result Reason

Crepidula fornicata The Netherlands

Failure Unpleasant taste

Mytilus galloprovincialis

Japan Failure No cultural tradition

Nuttalia obscurata British Columbia

Success Pleasant taste

Rapana venosa Turkey Success For export market where it is eaten

Eriocheir sinensis Germany Failure Highly variable recruitment

Can the consumer readily obtain the product?Can it be distributed practically, or will it spoil?Does the product carry any unwanted problems?Does the product need further development?

The Freshwater eel Anguilla:

• glass-eel stage harvested from the wild• seasonal fishery• glass eels also used in aquaculture• unsustainable resource• Atlantic stocks may not survive a century

WHAT IS IT?

Peanut worm, a siphunculid

Delicacy in Xiamen, China

ENJOY YOUR MEAL