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Events

Fish : deliver them fresh

By NEWS SYSTEM
Published: May 8th, 2008
Related tags: fish, food, fresh, retail

Packforum®, the Sealed Air Cryovac European customer care center near Paris, hosted its second global fish and seafood event last month. The programme comprised a seminar session with a series of presentations from leading industry experts on all aspects of fish packaging, specific workshops and an optional tour of a flagship French supermarket store. The event welcomed 85 delegates from retail, industry and food sciences representing 64 companies and 21 countries in West and Eastern Europe as well as Saudi Arabia.

The European Fish Market: Setting the Scene

“Packaging is key in the current fish scenario as it affects fish retailing in significant ways”, explained Luc Sauban, Case-Ready European Marketing Manager, Cryovac Food Solutions, “given the sourcing duality between fish farming and wild catch and the increasing penetration of modern retail and self-service distribution channels”.

According to Stéphanie Abbal, Senior Consultant for GIRA, one of the main supply issues in the fish market is the threat caused by illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fish catch, which many retailers are rising up against. Another point of interest: contrarily to popular belief, fish has retained its price competitiveness compared with other foods, and frozen fish is not to be written off.

Exclusive Store Check Campaign

Christophe Gottar, Retail Director Europe, Cryovac Food Solutions, presented the results of a recent store check campaign carried out in 112 stores across 17 European countries. Fish products take up 0.81% of total store surface on average, with a higher percentage for Holland and Norway and a lower one in Hungary. There is an average split of 40% frozen fish to 60% fresh, same for over-the-counter 40% to self-service 60%. Elaborated fish products are way ahead (75%) of Case-Ready and backstore packaging. 80% of Case-Ready fish is packed under modified atmosphere. Already 53% of fresh fish sold in self-service is pre-packed outside with leadership of supermarkets at 78%. Hypermarkets are still packing backstore at 65% but economics, safety and social contexts could drive them more in the supermarket direction. Case-Ready leaders have clearly implemented vertical merchandising.

Modern Retailing for Fish

Hallvard Lëroy, a leading Norwegian fish group present in France, described its view of the market evolution. Harvest quantities for Atlantic salmon worldwide have been increasing, despite a decreasing volume of wild fish, therefore meaning a major increase in farmed fish (now 50% of fish counters). There are fewer actors (fish farmers and traders) as well as fewer customers working to satisfy an increasing consumer demand. “The answer for us”, said Henri Lapeyrère, General Manager, “is to get closer to our consumers geographically, hence our presence in various other European countries.” In France, for example, consumers tend to buy more processed fish packed in MAP and there is a clear trend for exotic species, while consumer prices are on the rise.

“Case-Ready fish is a difficult assortment to manage”, said Joachim Cederblad, Category Director, ICA Sweden, “but consumers want it, and managing the whole value chain will give you a competitive edge”. Here are his recommendations: “Availability is key, as are logistics and consumer information. Start with a smaller assortment and gradually build it up. Be prepared to waste and be aware of WWF recommendations. Last but not least, packaging can improve your shelf-life, another critical point.”

At Tesco in Poland, traditional counter sales account for 60% of fish sales, as customers prefer shopping with service. “We are expecting growth in the sales of seafood, as well as smoked packed fish, fish pastes and fish ready-meals”, said Andrzej Kalita, Project Manager Fish. “Our main expectation from packaging is to keep the fish and seafood extremely fresh”.

Fish Preservation and Shelf Life

Fresh fish is one of the most perishable foodstuffs. It is highly sensitive to temperatures, which is why adequate packaging must be combined with a reliable cold chain and hygiene. Fresh fish poses a number of safety concerns, as it can spoil through enzymatic, microbiological or oxidative mechanisms – all of which can be limited by packaging. The stability of processed fish in particular is variable depending on the composition and processing technology. “To ensure performance”, explained Maurizio Rossi, Applications Scientist Food Technology for Cryovac Europe, “it is critical to properly select and inspect the raw material, follow the packaging guidelines closely regarding quality control and hygiene, properly and constantly control temperatures and test shelf life when introducing new packaging or changing the raw material source”.

According to Morten Sivertsvik, Research Manager, Norconserv Seafood Processing Research in Norway, “superchilling” or crust freezing has a potential as a pre-treatment for fresh fish. It extends shelf-life and makes ice superfluous with built-in cooling and increased transport efficiency. When combined with MAP or soluble gas stabilization (SGS), there is an additional effect. SGS is a novel way to decrease the modified atmosphere pack size by dissolving the CO₂ prior to packaging. This process provides benefits to food producers, retailers, consumers and the environment, by reducing volume, transportation and material consumption as well as waste thanks to longer shelf-life.

MAP Seafood

Paw Dalgaard, Senior Scientist at DTU Aqua in Denmark then explained how the safe shelf-life of fresh and lightly preserved MAP seafood can be predicted. In fact, the effect of storage temperature, packaging and hygiene can be predicted by the Seafood Spoilage and Safety Predictor (SSSP) software. Other tools developed by DTU Aqua can also predict histamine formation and Listeria growth in fresh fish that is either vacuum packed or packed under modified atmosphere. “We provide advice on shelf-life and safety of MAP seafood through tools, free software (SSSP has 3,000 users in 98 different countries), workshops, courses and consulting”, he said.

Fish Quality and Control Measures

Gonzalo Campos, European Fish Specialist, Cryovac Food Solutions looked at current quality control schemes. There is a need for high quality fish at each stage of the production chain, from catch to consumer. QIM (Quality Index Method) or sensory evaluation is the most widely used method for assessing freshness and quality in the fish sector, particularly as consumer acceptance of food products is determined by sensory quality. Procedures are required to ensure microbiologically safe products. When unacceptable levels of micro-organisms are found, rejection and destruction are imperative. Hazards related to contamination, biological hazards and the growth of pathogens during processing can be controlled by applying a well designed HACCP (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point) programme.

Begoña Pérez-Villarreal, Business Director, Food Research Division, Azti Tecnalia in Spain, presented some validation tools for the sensory analysis of fish freshness and species identification through DNA analysis. Validated traceability systems are needed to ensure consumers’ confidence. A practical guide for control parameters and traceability procedures in seafood products is available on-line at www.azti.es/valid. Research is needed on rapid tools and reference materials for relevant parameters, and to validate new sensors, devices, probes and kits coming into the market.

Packaging Innovations

“Packaging innovations allow the product offer to be segmented, make life easier for retailers and result in sales growth”, said Luc Sauban, Case-Ready European Marketing Manager, Cryovac Food Solutions. “This in turn creates value to seafood business partners”. Fish is currently the most traditional of all proteins, available mostly unpacked and backstore wrapped. There is a need to bring more added value through central Case-Ready packaging to help fish products, which benefit from a fresh, young and healthy image as a protein, to be easier to find, buy, prepare and cook. “Packaging and presentation are what truly makes the difference!” concluded Luc Sauban.

Andrés Ripoll, Director of Quality, Environmental, I+D for the leading Spanish fish processor Caladero, explained the need for selling packaged seafood product on retail shelves. This need is driven by changing consumer habits (such as the increasing number of working women and the trend toward a leisure culture), changes in distribution formats and the increased consumer awareness of food safety. Packaging technology provides an adequate response. For example, tray lidding with protected atmosphere brings enhanced convenience, wider variety, controlled hygiene and better communication.

Sidi Chouikhi, Technical Director Ready Meals, Cryovac Food Solutions, described the Cryovac^® packaging systems for fish-based prepared meals. The market segmentation covers Ready-to-Heat meals such as gratin dishes, casseroles, pasta based dishes with seafood and fish, as well as Ready-to-Cook meals such as ‘Cook from Raw’ meal components and fully prepared meals. The Cryovac^® packaging options available include Simple Steps^®, the microwaveable tray and skin film system, CRYOVAC BDF^®, the shrink wrap barrier film system available with any type of tray, and N’Oven^® trays and lid system combined with Cryovac^® DOF lidding films for both the microwave and traditional ovens.

New Species on the Self-Service Counters

“Pre-packed fish brings new opportunities to consumers with a more attractive and varied offer as well as strong marketing tools”, said Alain Bailly, General Director, Comptoirs Océaniques, France. “It also assists retailers to reduce labour costs, reply to the sanitary pressure and develop a larger modern offer. Finally, this approach helps the producer to optimize his know-how and create new value”. New species are being introduced, such as tuna, sword, mahi, which thanks to modern processing and packaging technologies can be offered in the form of fresh or frozen Sushi and Sashimi. “MAP is the answer for exotic fish, because it facilitates handling, provides cutting and portioning know-how, marketing differentiation, as well as colour and shelf-life preservation”, he added.

By-Products from the Seafood Industry

Consultant Oistein Jacobsen explained how by-products from seafood, such as fish oils (rich in fatty acids), fish meal (for feed and pet food) and Omega 3’s (for enriching foods) are becoming increasingly popular with the pharmaceutical, food supplements and functional food segments. Increasingly acute health issues in the Western world, particularly obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are driving the dietary supplements markets globally and thus bringing in new types of customers to the seafood industry.

Traceability in the Fish Business

Klemens van Betteray, Vice President of CSB-System AG in Germany, gave a very detailed presentation on the traceability chain in the fish business and the specific information exchange in fish labelling upstream and downstream, for both farmed and captured species. The traceability of the packaging material follows all stages of the supply chain, with a particular focus on temperature control all the way to the consumer. “Using the Global Standard GS1 for identification and communication, traceability is ensured via scanning and data processing all along the chain, requiring sophisticated data management capabilities to ensure performance in quality assurance and food safety”, he explained. “In the future, we will definitely need more integration, more information, more technology, more experience and more global harmonization”.

Conclusions

“Our expertise in other fresh protein segments such as fresh meat and poultry brings high added value thanks to cross fertilization between markets”, concluded Luc Sauban. “We must keep in mind that the end-user is the same. Modern retailers are increasingly involved in fish distribution and want homogeneity in the way they manage their product range, whatever the products’ origin (industrial poultry as well as wild fish).”

“During this event, we gathered some of the best experts in food technology from the most famous European research institutes in seafood”, he added. “We opened some doors on features that packaging will bring in the future with some concrete demonstrations: intelligent packaging, sustainability, process automation. We also demonstrated that we are able to address any specific segment, from the most basic (bulk ice transportation can be replaced with MAP and vacuum packaging bringing hygiene and saving on logistics), to the most elaborated (various technologies to address any raw product needs as well as further processed products (reheating, cooking, convenience) which enable the fish offer to fit modern consumer behaviour).”