French smoking companies, which supply nearly 70% of the French market, have been facing a historic and uninterrupted surge in their production costs for several weeks.
These costs are even reaching records at the start of 2023, due to the skyrocketing prices of their supplies of fresh salmon, that represent, According to the case, 50 to 70% of their production costs. The price of Norwegian salmon, at the origin of 53% of smoked salmon in France, has almost doubled in two years (+96,65 %), between the first quarters of 2021 and 2023. As shown by the benchmark Nasdaq Index, the price of Norwegian salmon size 4/5 kg reached the unprecedented price of 127 Norwegian crowns per kilo in March. No structural development allows us to envisage a significant remission on very high salmon price levels, while companies are also faced with the general increase in their costs (energy, packaging, transport, workforce…).
Historically high prices
Faced with this continuous and unprecedented increase in production costs, which undermines the sustainability of French companies in the sector, and given the important place of smoked salmon among the French (more than eight out of ten French people make it a must-have on the holiday table), the sector calls on all stakeholders to show understanding and solidarity, like in 2022. Everyone must demonstrate responsibility at a time of very strong pressure on production costs and great uncertainty about the economic solidity of the sector and its jobs.. The situation is all the more urgent as price projections over the coming months remain 30 to 50% higher than last year.. Like Norwegian salmon, all origins and labeled products are affected by the dizzying rise in prices : Scottish salmon, Red and organic label. Wild Alaska salmon also sees sharp price rise, particularly due to energy and transport costs.
A market under tension
Global demand has rebounded since the post-covid recovery, including that of China by + 25% (export of fresh salmon from Norway to China). Production side, the situation was already very tense with a drop in biomass linked to the heat of summer 2022 (-75% production in Scotland over the last three months) and the health difficulties in Latin America which concentrate demand on a reduced number of producing countries. For the coming period, production risks not coping, with an expected decline particularly in Norway, main producing country, due to lower production starts, and the blocking of the contractualization mechanism at the Oslo Stock Exchange (Fishpool tool) due to the new production tax being implemented by the Norwegian government, sending a large majority of purchases to the spot market.
2,600 jobs in France
French smoking workshops are the heirs of a long tradition developed with the preparation of salmon which came up the French rivers., complementary to the smoking of fish caught at sea. With this historical know-how, France today produces nearly 70% of the smoked salmon consumed in France. Made up of around thirty SMEs and ETIs, the French smoked salmon and trout sector represents nearly 2,600 direct jobs, from a few dozen to a few hundred depending on the company, not counting the jobs generated in the sector. In 2021, the turnover relating to their salmon and trout smoking activities amounted to more than 705 million euros. 97% of turnover generated in France. Smoked trout represents a turnover of 154 million euros and smoked salmon 551 million euros. Companies in the sector are brought together within the ETF (Fresh catering companies), trade union member of ADEPALE.
