ESTONIA
Ecofarm develops and sells products from farmed and wild fish
An aquaculture PO with an interest in small pelagics Ecofarm is a producer organisation for the Estonian aquaculture sector. Led by Oleg Epner it is in the process of implementing a swathe of new ideas that add value to fish farmed in Estonia, which can be sold on the domestic as well as international markets.
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gutted sturgeon, Arctic char, large freshwater trout, and a large trout fillet all are locally produced by the members of Ecofarm and processed at the PO’s newly-established facility. A relatively young PO, Ecofarm was established to improve both the volumes and the sales of Estonian farmed fish.
Domestic production needs to replace imports The Estonian aquaculture sector with a total production of 730 tonnes is relatively small something that both the Estonian and the European authorities would like to change. Modest volumes of several species (trout, carp, eel, crayfish, sturgeon, Arctic char) are produced, of which production of trout amounts to almost two thirds of the total. One of the main constraints the sector is facing is competition with marine farmed fish. If the freshwater aquaculture sector is to grow it has to fight back. Mounting a successful challenge to imported fish starts with understanding the consumer and finding out why he/she makes certain choices. In Viljandi, a small town a couple of hours away from Tallinn, a fishrelated event was held in February on the lake that was attended by a few thousand people. This was the ideal opportunity to learn 48
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Ecofarm is working on developing export markets for its products and has started exporting to Latvia and Finland with hopes to enter the Swedish market soon, says Director Oleg Epner.
about consumers’ preferences and also market some of Ecofarm’s products. Mr Epner made three significant discoveries during the course of the event, which he hopes to exploit to promote his members’ farmed fish. The first was that consumers are generally unaware of the existence of a freshwater fish farming sector in Estonia. This suggests the need to create awareness of the sector and the advantages it offers in terms of freshness of the product compared to fish that is imported. He
also learned that people increasingly prefer products that have to be processed as little as possible. Instead of whole round fish, the fish should be gutted, and instead of whole fish, consumers prefer fillets.
Packaging, taste critical for product acceptance Finally, Mr Epner also discovered that in the case of smoked fish the taste and the packaging could make a difference. The smoked
sturgeon has a relatively low salt content of maximum 1.8, which highlights the taste of the fish without drowning it. The salt content can be low because the fish does not need to have such a long shelf life compared with imported products. The packaging, a vacuum pack to keep the product fresh, seemed also to be popular amongst consumers. Ecofarm is a PO for fish farmers, but that is not preventing Mr Epner from developing agreements with other parts of the sector. Among his ideas is www.eurofishmagazine.com
27/03/15 7:58 PM