ESTONIA
DGM Shipping earns coveted award at Prodexpo
Using sprats to make highly value-added items DGM Shipping is a successful processor of Baltic herring and sprat. Three years ago the company was nominated for the Prix d’Elite at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels for one of its products. This year the company has just returned from Prodexpo in Moscow with a Gran-Prix for a similar creation.
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stablished in 1994 as a fishing company, DGM Shipping expanded a decade later by building a processing plant to add value to the catch. The company has significant quotas of cod, Baltic herring and sprat. The fish was frozen and exported in blocks to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries where local companies canned or otherwise processed the fish. Today the facility produces fresh and frozen Baltic sprat and herring as well as preserves and marinated fish most of which is exported to other EU countries, as well as Russia, Ukraine and other parts of the CIS.
Eastern markets interested in Scandinavian-style marinades Many of the approximately 90 companies in the fish processing sector in Estonia use Baltic sprat and herring as their raw material. The fish is typically frozen and exported in blocks to the CIS countries. DGM Shipping is different in this regard as much of its production is further processed, that is, not just frozen into blocks but made into fillets, preserved or marinated. The product that won the award at Prodexpo was based on a fillet 54
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of sprat. The fish is caught by the company’s own vessels, where the fish is very carefully handled to ensure the best quality raw material. Back at the factory the fish is filleted by machine and the fillets are salted and spiced and allowed to mature. While different products can be manufactured from the mature fillets, the prize-winning product was one that had been marinated in a solution of sugar and herbs. The sweet marinade is popular in Scandinavia, but unusual in Eastern Europe, where marinades tend to be savoury. Developing a suitable package for this delicate product was also a challenge. The company elected to place the product in a tray sealed with a foil that can be peeled off. A plastic lid allows the tray to be closed once the foil has been removed. The award at Prodexpo took into account not only the product, but also the sophistication of the packaging. Ilja Gorohhov, Development Director, says that the traditional savoury taste of marinated products sold in Eastern Europe is still very popular, but the sweeter Scandinavian marinade is making headway there too. The company has a chain of shops in Estonia where it sells its products and these function also as a testing ground for whenever it launches something new. Customers are
Ilja Gorohhov, Development Director, says marinated products sold in Eastern Europe are more savoury than Scandinavian marinades, which are sweeter.
encouraged to give their opinion about new products and the company uses this feedback to modify and improve its recipes. As it owns each step of the value chain, from the raw material to the final distribution and sales point, it can exercise complete control over the product, ensuring that it is the highest quality. The most recent product that the company has developed is a fish cake. What is unusual about this product is the high proportion of fish (70) that it contains. The fish in the cake is a mixture of salmon, Baltic herring, and cod, which is combined with carrot and onion in a recipe developed by the company. The salmon,
which is imported from Norway, is added in small quantities to the cake to add some colour and some taste.
Sanctions force a revision in strategy DGM Shipping has been affected by the political problems between Russia and the EU. The sanctions have prevented the export of frozen fish to Russia and have forced the company to look for new markets and consider new strategies as their very survival was at stake. The company has hit upon supplying salted fish to the Ukraine in the form of 10-litre barrels filled with sprat, www.eurofishmagazine.com
27/03/15 7:59 PM