Price, availability, and novelty contribute to trout’s popularity among the young

Trout holds its own against marine species

Located just 300 m from the sea, the trout farm Rittermann doo sells its fish to restaurants up and down the Croatian coast successfully competing with purveyors of marine seafood.

Finding a trout farm in the middle of a town is unusual to say the least, but in Solin close to Split on the Croatian coast a company has been operating a trout farm close to the city centre since the 90s. The farm works much the same way as it did when it was originally established in the 80s, but back then it was a state-owned company. With Croatian independence Mr Ritterman bought the farm from the state in 1995 when he established the private company, Ritterman doo. Today the company is run by Luka Ritterman and his brother, the sons of the founder. They form the third generation of Rittermans to operate the ponds, as in the days when it was a state-run farm it was their grandfather who managed the production.

Fully integrated production

Since the time it was owned by the state, production of trout at the farm has been fully integrated. The company has its own broodstock for egg production, a hatchery and a nursery for the fry, grow out raceways for the production of market sized fish, and even a shop to sell the final product. This approach means the company reduces the risk of importing diseases to the farm and is free from the import duties levied on supplies (such as eggs) from outside the EU. The feed comes from a Danish company with whom the company has been working for the last three years. The farm, according to Luka Ritterman, is the oldest still-functioning trout farm in Croatia. There may be older farms, he adds, but they no longer operate. The venerable age of the farm is not its only distinguishing characteristic, it is also, for now, the biggest with regard to annual production which amounts to 120 tonnes. This distinction is under threat from Krofish, a newly established trout farming company, which intends to produce 150 tonnes in its first year alone. Increasing the production at Ritterman doo is not currently feasible because of constraints on the water supply.

Water on the farm is drawn from a river that runs through Solin, but this water is also used by the local municipality to supply to the town’s inhabitants. In times of shortage people take priority over fish and the company must make do with a smaller allocation. It is not possible to do anything about this, Mr Ritterman says, so we have to manage. For now it has not meant any significant adjustments but in five years he expects the problem to get more acute especially in summer. If this turns out to be the case, he will either have to reduce the feed given to the fish or reduce the volume of fish on the farm. What about recirculating the water? Mr Ritterman would like to make the necessary investments to reuse the water, but first some debts have to be repaid which would then create the necessary financial space to explore watersaving measures. The company has so far not looked at the possibility of getting support from EU funds to make these investments. This is not to say that no investments have been made since the company was formed in 1995. Buildings have been renovated including the office area and the storage area for the feed and the Styrofoam boxes in which the fish are packaged.

Luka Ritterman, Director, Ritterman doo, a company producing trout for the Croatian market.

Better qualified staff following a change in generations

Another change has been in the average age of the workforce which has declined from about 60 to about 30 as younger staff have been hired to replace the older ones as they retired. This also meant the workforce is more professionally qualified as most of the older staff did not have relevant qualifications, mainly because they did not exist. In the 70s and 80s educational institutions in the area did not offer the programmes or courses that a technician would need to work on a freshwater fish farm. This may also be attributed to Solin’s proximity to the coast. Schools here would focus on programmes relevant to marine fish farming, leaving the freshwater business to institutions in the continental part of the country. The younger employees who joined the company

tend to have attended schools where they learned something about this business. Whether located in a rural or an urban area fish farms attract predatory birds and Ritterman doo is no exception. It is a serious issue, says Mr Ritterman, because the birds are protected and we are not allowed to harm them in any way. Even scaring the birds with small explosives is not permitted though this is not because the birds are threatened, but because the sound is likely to annoy the neighbours who can complain.

Being located in the city thus has both disadvantages and advantages. Neighbours can complain about bird scaring noises, but they are also likely to stop by at the shop to pick up some freshly harvested fish. In fact, the shop is responsible for 15 of the sales. The remainder is sold business to business with most customers coming from the retail sector and some from the food service sector. Restaurants form another category of customers and are particularly active in the summer when Croatia plays host to millions of tourists. The company supplies restaurants at many of the most visited areas along the coast from Zadar to Dubrovnik. The product takes two forms both fresh on ice: whole round fish packaged in 6 kg boxes forms the bulk of the deliveries, and gutted fish, which is preferred by the restaurants and one of the supermarkets. The average weight is typically 250 g but Mr Ritterman expects to increase the size to 300 g minimum and up to 400 g. This will increase the unit price, currently HRK40/ kilo (EUR5.3) in the company store, but despite that sales are expected to be easier. Ritterman doo does not process the fish itself, instead it has an agreement with a processing firm based near Zagreb (400 km away) that specialises in smoking fish. From Solin gutted fish is sent by road to Zagreb, where it is smoked and/or the caviar extracted and then returned to Solin. This is a convenient way of doing business, feels Mr Ritterman. He pays for the service, which is very good, and is spared from having to establish his own processing facility yet can sell the product under his own brand.

New hatchery planned for end summer 2022

The farm’s hatchery is at another location 1,200 m from the growout facility. The grow-out facility houses the broodstock and the eggs are stripped here, fertilised, and then taken to the hatchery. Once the eggs hatch and the fry are about a month old, they are brought back to the grow-out site and introduced into small tanks. This poses some challenges as the hatchery site is located on the water source and therefore may not be owned by the company, which means staff does not have free access to the hatchery. Mr Ritterman would therefore like to build a new hatchery at the grow-our site at the end of summer this year. The new hatchery will feature a recirculation system and all the equipment that entails, pumps, a biofilter, UV filter etc. This will be the first step in gradual shift to recirculation that the company would like to make. Outlet water from the farm goes directly to the sea which is a mere 300 m away from the company’s facility. Although it is, so far, under no legal obligation to analyse the water that leaves the farm it is careful about what and when it releases the water. The fish takes 18 months to reach market size of 250 g. However, increasing the average size to 350 g will not mean a longer growing period as Mr Ritterman will reduce the number of fish in each raceway. With the lower density he counts on the fish reaching the bigger size in about the same number of months especially if he also uses a higher performing feed. The company completes a single production cycle in the year; the hatchery is operational from September/ October until December the same year. Every week, during this period, the broodstock that are ready are stripped, so that the hatchery receives eggs about 20 times over the course of three months. Fish is supplied throughout the year with Lent, Easter, and then summer followed by Christmas being the periods when demand peaks. Despite the location so close to the sea and therefore the competition from marine fish, Mr Ritterman finds demand for trout has been good. In fact, he says, there are many people from the nearby Croatian islands who come to the shop to buy trout. One explanation could be the reliability of supply that sellers of marine fish may not be able to match, and anther could be the price; the farmed product is cheaper than wild fish. In addition, Mr Ritterman thinks that younger consumers are more willing to try something different, so even if they have grown up on marine fish, he still sees a fair number of them at his shop.

Production is fully integrated from broodstock (pictured) to nal product.

Ritterman doo

Zvonimirova 78 21210 Solin Croatia

Tel.: +385 998 205 152, +385 21 210 077 info@trotta.com.hr trotta.com.hr Director: Luka Ritterman

Activity: Trout farming Production: 120 tonnes Product form: Whole round on ice, gutted on ice, smoked Brand: Trotta Ritterman Employees: 8