SPAIN
Fedepesca is betting that a focus on sustainability will reverse the slide in specialised fish retailer numbers
Fish shops go green Fedepesca, the National Federation of Independent Fish Retailers, represents more than 7,000 small commercial retailers in Spain who specialize in ďŹ sh products. They include 10,000 points of sale and employ more than 25,000 people. It is a sector which has a 40% share of the fresh ďŹ sh market, and with its professionalism, guidance and quality has been fundamental in steering the Spanish taste for ďŹ sh products.
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Multiple factors contribute to falling numbers of ďŹ shmongers The reasons for this include the stiff competition from large multinational distribution centres, profound socio-economic changes produced by the introduction of new technologies in people‘s daily lives, and the difficulty of the job itself which includes early
mornings, extended business hours, a cold and humid work environment and a lack of prestige. The latter stems from the fact that there is no professional training in the wholesale and retail fish sectors nor in other perishable goods sector. Spain has no such professional training in the sector, unlike the hospitality industry which has had public and private training institutions for more than
50 years. This prevents the sector from “mining� qualified young people who are prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century. The wholesale and retail trade in perishable goods, a sector that employs more than 500,000 people in Spain, has been abandoned by the public professional training field seriously compromising the next generation and indeed Federpesca
nfortunately, much like other traditional sectors, fish retailing is suffering. From 2007 to 2015, almost 6,000 jobs have been lost in this sector, nearly 21 of the workforce, while the number of specialized commercial establishments dropped by 23. In contrast, over the eight years to 2016, the area of large scale grocery stores increased 30.
By training ďŹ shmongers to respond to the sweeping changes on the market in the last few years Fedepesca hopes to equip them for the future. Eurofish Magazine 4 / 2018
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