Creating value
2013
nofima.no
18
Financed by:
The Ministry of Fisheries and
Coastal Affairs and the Norwegian
Seafood Research Fund
British customers are willing to pay more for fish if it is labelled “line caught” and “Icelandic”.
photo: edgar henriksen © nofima
The study shows that the label “Icelandic” also provides
a price premium of five per cent and that there are great
differences in prices between British supermarket chains.
“The fact that chains choose to label products as line
caught is probably because this method is perceived as
more gentle on the seabed and thus well in line with the
chains’ efforts to act responsibly,” says Senior Scientist
Geir Sogn-Grundvåg.
He believes that the fishing industry, in a situation
with heavy pressure on prices as a result of record cod
catches and reduced purchasing power in the largest
whitefish markets, has a good opportunity to improve its
finances by offering more differentiated products.
100 products monitored:
In the autumn of 2010
Nofima started recording the prices of almost 100 dif-
ferent fillet products of cod, haddock and Alaska pollock
in seven British supermarkets. A so-called hedonic price
analysis was employed, which enables one to uncover
the effect of each individual product attribute on price.
Choice of supermarket:
The greatest pricing devia-
tions are linked to the supermarkets’ own brands.
Marks & Spencer leads with a price premium of 49%,
followed by Coop with 32% and Waitrose with a 30%
price premium, while Tesco and Lidl have price premiums
of -23 and -25 per cent respectively.
In the frozen whitefish fillet sector there are only two
manufacturer brands, Birds Eye and Young’s. Birds Eye
achieves a significant price premium of up to 46%, while
Young’s achieves a premium of 21%. It is also worth
noting that Alaska pollock fillets are far cheaper than cod
and haddock fillets.
“The significant price differences may be useful
information for Norwegian exporters who are consider-
ing which supermarket chains they should offer their
products,” says Sogn-Grundvåg.
British customers are willing to pay up to 22% extra for a pack of
frozen cod or haddock when the pack is labelled “line caught”.
22% extra for line caught
