Fishy Business

Seafood has always been an important part of the Middle East’s gastronomy and many of the Gulf’s rich and powerful cities started life as small fishing towns.

With such cultural importance, it is perhaps unsurprising that the region’s seafood market is booming.

This is a market driven by consumers. According to a survey conducted by the Emirates Wildlife Society and the World Wildlife Fund (EWS-WWF), 66% of the UAE population eat fish at least once a week. This strong consumer demand for seafood combined with the rapid ongoing expansion of the region’s food service industry is good news for seafood suppliers operating in the Middle East.

“Demand for seafood from the region’s F&B industry remains steady and strong,” says Wet Fish Trading co-owner, Mark Allan. “Already we’re up 30% year-on-year with new hotels opening and demand increasing, and alongside this the demand for top quality products is also growing.”

Fresh and seasonal
In the competitive F&B market, chefs are seeking out fresh seafood to differentiate their offering from the competition. By reducing the time between catch and cook, chefs hope to improve the flavour and texture of their seafood dishes.

“The freshness of the fish is the most important element of a great seafood dish,” says Al Bustan Palace, InterContinental Muscat director of F&B, Rocco Bova.“We mainly use locally-caught fresh fish here in Oman. Luckily, we’re rich in coastal species so it’s easy to buy fresh bream, kingfish and tuna.”

Unlike other ingredients on a typical menu, the supply of seafood fluctuates in availability. Fresh fish is highly seasonal and chefs have to construct their menus with flexibility to ensure they can capitalise on the best produce each season has to offer.

“You can drive around and see herds of cattle in fields or crops growing, but you never know what is happening under the water,” explains Allan, “and this is what makes the fish market so exciting! Each day is different.

“So chefs have to work towards the best of season. Our biggest seller is UK-sourced fresh muscles which are very popular this time of year. What chefs need to realise is that they go out of season in early June and don’t come back until the end of August.

Our job is to communicate this seasonality to the client and dissuade chefs from putting them on the menu all year round.”

Often this involves the chefs becoming more involved with the supply chain and resurrecting the old tradition of visiting the morning markets to source produce.

“We use a wide range of seafood in our restaurants including red snapper, black cod, sea bass and Omani lobsters to name just a few,” says Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre, executive assistant F&B manager, Antony McNeil.

“Our chefs regularly visit the seafood markets to review what is in season and inspect the quality of the produce. We always ask about the origin of the produce, how it was caught and whether it is farmed or wild.”

Consistency
The seafood market is inherently erratic when it comes to non-farmed produce – prices fluctuate, seasons determine demand, it is highly exposed to environmental factors and no two catches will be the same.

When husband and wife team, Mark and Jacky Allan, launched Wet Fish Trading six years ago in Dubai they were aiming to improve the quality and service standards that they identified as lacking in the region’s seafood market.

“It’s strange how people used to simply accept mediocrity in the seafood market,” says Mark Allan.

With demand increasing from the region’s F&B industry, suppliers like Wet Fish are working hard to strengthen the region’s supply chain through partnership.

“It’s essential to maintain good supply and to do this you must have influence in your source market in the long-term,” explains Allan.

“I have a 20-year relationship with my suppliers in the UK and I tell them if it doesn’t meet the quality standard then don’t put it in the box and ship it.”

Similarly, Scottish salmon supplier Gourmet’s Choice is looking to bring added stability to its supply chain through a long-term partnership, as sales manager Henry Angus confirms:

“We are looking to source sustainably reared salmon in partnership with an independent Scottish salmon farmer. That way we can guarantee that our standards of animal husbandry and traceability have been achieved.

“Once this partnership is in place, we can negotiate longer-term supply contracts and fix longer-term prices – price constraints are always going to be difficult to balance, but by working with the right partner we can negotiate more easily.”

Sustainability
However, it’s not all good news for the region’s seafood market: the booming industry of today has depleted fish stocks by around 80% in the last three decades and studies predict the global collapse of all species used for food by 2048.

The problem is particularly acute in the UAE where high demand has resulted in an estimated 60% of the total catch made up of species already fished beyond sustainable levels.

The situation has prompted the EWS-WWF to launch the Choose Wisely Campaign, to raise awareness and promote sustainable fishing. This has led some operators, such as Le Méridien Al Aqah in Fujairah, to remove non-sustainable species from their menus including the local-favourite, hammour.

“The Choose Wisely awareness campaign is already driving change,” says Ritz-Carlton’s McNeil, “with 68% of UAE residents willing to buy sustainable fish when dining out and more than 65% prepared to buy and order fish exclusively from environmentally friendly outlets.”

Royal Culimer general manager, Jeroen Tollenaar, agrees: “We have noticed an increase in demand for sustainable products, so it seems that the work of the EWS-WWF and similar organisations is generating results.

The UAE is probably a few steps ahead of other countries in the region, but more countries will almost certainly follow. We now consider sustainability to be an essential part of our branding.”

Branding to the rescue
Perhaps the introduction of region-wide sustainable fishing practices has a fighting chance thanks to the Middle East’s brand-conscious culture. Many F&B operators have embraced sustainability through the brand as a way of demonstrating their corporate responsibilities to the consumer.

Le Bistrot – Sustainable Cuisine at Le Méridien Abu Dhabi has incorporated sustainability values into the brand, as head chef Thierry Gallas confirms: “At Le Bistrot – Sustainable Cuisine, we only serve sustainable fish and we have joined the Choose Wisely campaign.

As an example, we are using ebzimi and yanam fish which are classified ‘green’ by EWS-WWF based on scientific assessments carried out by experts at the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi. We don’t serve any threatened fish species such as hammour or sea bream.

“The sustainable concept has been well-received by our diners and we’ve had excellent feedback regarding the fish. However we need to increase public awareness about the over-fishing issue because it is the consumer that can make the difference.”

Currently, many chefs perceive ethical and sustainable seafood to be expensive and non-viable. However, as the trend gathers pace it is likely that more suppliers and F&B operators will reposition their brands to reflect the shift in consumer concerns.

New tastes, new brands, new concepts
With consumer demand and interest in seafood at an all-time high, there is an opportunity for new seafood concepts and brands to flourish across the region.

In Kuwait, Organica Fish and Chips has brought Australian-style fish and chips to the country under the direction of operations director, Catherine Becka.

“Traditional Australian fish and chips is something new for Kuwait and the GCC,” explains Becka. “I think there’s a real trend here for new food concepts that use different ingredients, cooking techniques and presentation and I believe this is being driven by the ethical issues and the threat of extinction for certain fish species.

If we are to move away from these species, chefs must be forced to develop new seafood fusions.”

Elsewhere in the market, January saw the introduction of a truly novel seafood brand — live lobster.

Clearwater Seafoods decided to brand the living sea creature by attaching a label to its claw, in order to capitalise on increasing demand for it as a product as well as to tackle the inconsistent quality of lobster in the global marketplace, as director of marketing, Holly Reardon explains: “Lobster is popular because it is very delicious and is associated with luxury F&B offerings. Our lobster comes with a brand promise which guarantees to the consumer that the product is of the very best premium quality and is full-meated.

“I believe that branding and packaging our seafood in this way ensures that we are protecting the integrity of the product and communicating our commitment to sustainability, food safety and preparation information for food service professionals in the region,” adds Reardon.

The region’s seafood market is developing quickly and fisheries, distributors, suppliers and chefs need to continue to work closely together to ensure that supply keeps up with demand.

They also need to exert influence throughout the supply chain, from the catch to delivery.

With this in mind, branding is certainly a simple and effective way to distinguish the good suppliers in an otherwise crowded marketplace, but when it comes to seafood, quality is all.

“At the end of the day it’s about ensuring F&B clients get the quality they have come to rely on,” concludes Gourmet Choice’s Angus. “We know that if we let them down then they in turn let their customers down — and no amount of fancy branding is going to fix that!”

On Sustainable Seafood…
“I think we will see more sustainable fish on the menus of the region’s restaurants as the Choose Wisely campaign gains momentum and I think we’ll see many restaurants go green or organic.”
Thierry Gallas, head chef, Le Méridien Abu Dhabi

“When people sit in a restaurant, the thought of how their seafood was caught is the last thing on their minds. Therefore the onus is on us as an industry to ensure that we are pursuing the best practices in seafood sustainability. We should highlight this through our sales process and menu.”
Antony McNeil, executive F&B assistant, Ritz-Carlton DIFC

“I come from a fishing village in southern Italy where the fishing industry is now dead. People are now fishing for fun and the catch is just enough to feed the family. It’s no longer commercial. I believe that fishing is not sustainable. Many countries have seasons for fishing and limits in place, but is this really policed effectively by the authorities?”
Rocco Bova, Al Bustan Palace Muscat, F&B director

Meet the suppliers
Gourmet’s Choice
“Our Scottish smoked salmon is popular because it has a longer shelf life and the smoking process is very traditional with no artificial flavours or ingredients.”
www.gourmetschoice.net

Wet Fish Trading
“As a specialist in fresh seasonal fish from
the UK, we’ve built our business around
offering high-quality produce and high
service standards.”
www.wetfishuae.com

Clearwater Seafoods
“Clearwater Seafoods has introduced the first branded lobster. Our lobster comes with a brand promise which
guarantees to the consumer that the product is of premium quality and is full-meated.”
www.clearwater.ca