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.
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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.”
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