6 minute read
Vince McDonagh
BY VINCE MCDONAGH
Flying the fl ag
Norway’s seafood industry is spending more than ever on promoting its products abroad
SPAIN and South Korea will be the main targets next year as the Norwegian Seafood Council unveils another massive marke� ng budget.
The organisa� on has set aside just over NOK 300m – around £25m – giving rival salmon producers such as Scotland and the Faroe Islands a lot to think about.
The budget is similar to this year’s spend. It covers all types of seafood, of course, but by far the largest amount, NOK 143m (£12m), will be devoted to promo� ng farmed salmon mostly through PR and adver� sing campaigns.
Whitefi sh such as cod and haddock, much of which goes to the UK, receives NOK 67.5m (almost £5.8m), while NOK 19m £1.6m) will be spent on shellfi sh and NOK 32.5m (£2.8m) on mackerel and herring.
Covering at least 30 countries, the Seafood Council is determined to get the “Buy Norwegian” message to as many parts of the world as possible.
But the budget winners in 2022 will be Spain at NOK 28.5m (£2.37m) and South Korea at NOK 32m (£2.6m). Cod will be pushed hard in Spain while salmon will be the focus in Korea, where demand has been rising.
Around NOK 22.5m (£1.9m) will be spent in France, but with Japan at NOK 19.5m (£1.7m) and China at NOK 17m (£1.48m) these two countries have dropped down the list.
Børge Grønbech, Global Opera� ons Director at the council, says: “Every year, our goal is to have the marke� ng plans ready by the beginning of October so that the exporters can use them in their own marke� ng work.
“We expect to make some adjustments, but, with a few excep� ons, most things are now in place.”
The Seafood Council is clearly spreading its net wide with emerging markets such as Israel, the Middle East and Vietnam seeing their current
Above: Børge Grønbech (Photo: Marius Fiskum NSC) Left: Norwegian salmon in Spain Opposite - clockwise from top left: Promo� on campaign, France; Seafood Council stall, South Korea; salmon on sale, Italy; Trine Horne
combined budgets of NOK 6.3m double to NOK 12.8m (£1.08m) for next year.
Grønbech says: “We have already reorganised with a new Nordic team and relaunched the [inspira� onal recipe] website Godfi sk.no.
An important focus for the team’s campaign work going forward will be to work closely with the industry and contribute to more Norwegians, especially the slightly younger guard, ea� ng more seafood. It will be marked with, among other things, a “push” on TV campaigns, digital adver� sing and social media as well as a number of PR ac� vi� es.
Grønbech is linking the scheme with a business ini� a� ve where the council has set aside NOK 26m (£2.2m) in next year’s budget.
This corporate ini� a� ve is a co-fi nancing between the Seafood Council and individual companies that, on their own ini� a� ve, have plans for new projects.
Some � me ago, the salmon sector no� ced increasing demand from southern Europe so these markets have received extra funding for the all-important 2021 autumn campaign, which runs up to Christmas.
Grønbech reveals: “One of the largest adver� sing campaigns of all � me for Norwegian salmon is currently being rolled out in Spain, France and Italy.
“Rarely have we run such a high-pressure (eff ort) in Southern Europe in one and the same period. A total of NOK 64m (£5.3m), over 40% of this year’s total interna� onal salmon budget, is going to be spent on major investment in these three countries.”
It was originally planned that Spain should receive the lion’s share, but Italians are taking to salmon in a big way and sales are on the increase in France, so it was decided they should also share the pot.
“An overall goal of the investments is to secure market posi� ons in these important countries, as well as to maintain the increased domes� c consump� on of salmon we have seen during the pandemic,” Grønbech adds.
He con� nues: “Both France, Spain and Italy are important engines for Norwegian salmon exports into Europe.
“These are the main reasons why precisely these countries have received extra funds to run large, na� onwide campaigns this year.
“By 2020, the three southern European countries accounted for almost a third of all European salmon consump� on
“France is one of Norway’s largest export markets for salmon, while exports to Spain and Italy have increased sharply in the last 10 years. The poten� al for further growth is signifi cant.”
The situa� on is quite diff erent from 2020, when coronavirus hit these countries hard and sales ini� ally plummeted.
But Spanish and French households turned to ea� ng seafood at home in a big way, partly compensa� ng for some of the losses.
Speaking before the toughening of restric� ons in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, Grønbech said the increase in home consump� on during the pandemic had con� nued, but with the added bonus of people now venturing out to restaurants again.
He stressed: “It is important to ensure that post corona trend con� nues. In France, for example, this year’s adver� sing campaign contained a strong focus on ea� ng situa� ons and food enjoyment whenever salmon is on the menu. “This (French) investment provided value for money, and contributed to increased home consump� on and an increased reputa� on for Norwegian salmon.” Trine Horne, who is the Seafood Council’s Paris-based French envoy, said she had taken lessons learned from last year, including a greater focus on inspira� on for recipes and food enjoyment, which included a number of events aimed at chefs and infl uencers.” She said this was providing an exci� ng campaign, with plenty of salmon on the menu, in the run-up to Christmas. FF
