Framgord

The Netherlands tasted the difference in Framgord organic salmon.

A market waiting to happen

When FFB The Netherlands met Scottish organic salmon producers Framgord at the FFB Network Forum in December 2005, the Netherlands office had already identified an appetite for organic salmon in the Dutch market.

A 2003 report had suggested that Dutch consumers would be interested in organic salmon, as long as they were given an explanation of the principles behind organic production and the taste benefits that it brings. Salmon requires an additional level of explanation just to inform consumers that most salmon is farmed, rather than caught wild.

Getting the message across

FFB The Netherlands concluded from this that the foodservice channel offered the best opportunity for organic salmon producers to harness the potential of the Dutch market, as foodservice providers are in the best position to explain the origin of their product.

FFB The Netherlands were therefore immediately able to suggest the Dutch foodservice market as one with great potential for Framgord’s organic salmon. The company’s visits to the market with FFB The Netherlands confirmed this potential, and talks began with Dutch distributor and fish company Schmidt Zeevis in Rotterdam.

Hook, line and sinker

By November 2006 the first deliveries of Framgord’s organic salmon had arrived and the product was successfully tested with Schmidt’s existing clients, to an overwhelmingly positive response that rated the product’s superior quality as its greatest attribute. Schmidt’s clients put their money where their mouths were, and delivery quantities increased, resulting in an expected 50 to 100 tons of salmon to be delivered to the Dutch market in 2007.

FFB The Netherlands also arranged for Schmidt Zeevis to undertake marketing activity for Framgord in the Netherlands. Organic salmon has been featured twice in Business Class, a Sunday morning Dutch television programme aimed at business viewers, which discussed the origin and principles of organic salmon as well as showing a chef creating salmon dishes. Another outstanding result of this PR activity was the publication of a large item in the culinary section of Holland’s best read newspaper De Telegraaf.

For more information, please contact FFB The Netherlands, John Schilder, jschilder@ffb.nl or +31 33 434 02 50