HUNGARY
With top quality products Elore Fishing Cooperative keeps pace in a competitive market
Adapting to ďŹ ckle consumer needs For centuries caviar has been a beloved seafood of kings (and of those who would like to be kings). And the Danube River is famous in both ďŹ shing and song. Besides sturgeon, the Danube is home to several varieties of carp and other freshwater species, and is the mainspring behind a ďŹ shing, ďŹ sh farming, and processing industry.
B
ut there aren’t as many kings anymore, so caviar companies have had to be flexible. And in Hungary, a large producer has managed through production flexibility and high quality control to establish a name for itself. Gyor, the most important city in northwest Hungary and home to the Elore Fishing Cooperative, is situated on the Danube, and has a long history in seafood. The city is well located as a distribution center for Danube seafood, situated on a major route in Eastern Europe, connecting Budapest and Vienna.
Subsidiaries for farming and processing The Elore Fishing Cooperative has been in the seafood business for over 70 years now. The company was established in 1945 by a group of Hungarian fishermen who pooled their resources and over time expanded into processing, farming, and retail sales. The company is now actually two separate enterprises, under joint ownership, explains its director, Mr Gabor Szilagyi. The original firm supplies the farmed fish, and
Gabor Szilagyi, the managing director of the Elore Fishing Cooperative
the processing arm is responsible for the products. The company both raises its own fish and sources fish from outside. Companies from which the company buys live fish have been partners for many years (one Italian supplier has been a regular partner for more than 14 years), and this kind of long-term relationship is key to quality control, says the director.
New products to meet changing consumer trends Common carp, a ďŹ sh traditionally sold live, is processed into ďŹ llets and steaks (pictured) for convenience.
The Elore Fishing Cooperative has undertaken two major expansions since the 1980s, to incorporate
new technology and to better meet consumer demands. On a 7.5-hectare facility fueled in good part with green energy, the company produces top-quality caviar and a wide range of other seafood, from many fish species. Production started in the 1980s, with another large product expansion in the early 2000s. Sales are made to restaurants and retail chains, as well as through its own chain of seven shops, west of the Danube stretching to Budapest. Several species are now processed, including cold water varieties such as trout and warm water types such as African catfish. Trout was for several years the
EUROFISH Magazine 1 / 2019
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