Tinned mackerel sales positive
A local fishing company says although it has had success with the launch of its tinned horse mackerel products, it remains a difficult product to sell.
While tinned horse mackerel may not be viewed as a big revenue generator, Etosha has seen its sales of the locally produced Efuta products shoot through the roof.
Its managing director, Pieter Greeff, recently spoke to Namibian Sun about Etosha's experiences with canning horse mackerel.
“We are absolutely delighted by the uptake of Efuta Maasbanker since its inception. During the first year of production we sold an estimated 80 000 trays. This more than doubled in 2015 to 180 000 trays and again in 2016 with an estimated 390 000 trays sold,” said Greeff. This translates to nearly 4.7 million tins sold in 2016, as a tray holds 12 tins.
Despite the short-term success of Efuta Maasbanker, Greeff cautions that the profitability of the product only really becomes viable with sales in excess of two million trays. He adds that the price is kept as low as possible to ensure affordability, which makes effective marketing and market expansion into foreign markets extremely difficult. Focus remains on the local market, therefore.
“The project was driven by Minister Esau's vision to put Namibia's most abundant fish resource in a can, offering the nation an affordable, nutritious meal from the sea delivered in robust packaging that has a long shelf life. But to can horse mackerel and think that your product will take a major share of the market is nothing short of ambitious. We had to ensure that we introduce a quality product.”
According to him, Etosha's locally canned products meet stringent Namibia Standards Institute requirements and are even halaal certified.
“Despite past and current challenges, Etosha Fishing is extremely proud to produce a quality product such as this, caught and canned locally. Through this endeavour we have once again committed ourselves to the creation of jobs and value addition to one of Namibia's most valuable fish resources,” Greeff said.
The minister of fisheries and marine resources, Bernard Esau, directed efforts to add value in the production of horse mackerel products in 2014. As a result, fishing companies must ensure that beneficiation occurs with 2% of their total allowable catch
“We want to see more value addition and job creations in the fishing industry. Horse mackerel is allocated the largest quota, yet the hake industry employs more people. We must maximise our resources and create 30 000 extra jobs, as the horse mackerel fishery has the capacity to do so,” he said previously of the drive to encourage value addition of horse mackerel products.
OGONE TLHAGE
Its managing director, Pieter Greeff, recently spoke to Namibian Sun about Etosha's experiences with canning horse mackerel.
“We are absolutely delighted by the uptake of Efuta Maasbanker since its inception. During the first year of production we sold an estimated 80 000 trays. This more than doubled in 2015 to 180 000 trays and again in 2016 with an estimated 390 000 trays sold,” said Greeff. This translates to nearly 4.7 million tins sold in 2016, as a tray holds 12 tins.
Despite the short-term success of Efuta Maasbanker, Greeff cautions that the profitability of the product only really becomes viable with sales in excess of two million trays. He adds that the price is kept as low as possible to ensure affordability, which makes effective marketing and market expansion into foreign markets extremely difficult. Focus remains on the local market, therefore.
“The project was driven by Minister Esau's vision to put Namibia's most abundant fish resource in a can, offering the nation an affordable, nutritious meal from the sea delivered in robust packaging that has a long shelf life. But to can horse mackerel and think that your product will take a major share of the market is nothing short of ambitious. We had to ensure that we introduce a quality product.”
According to him, Etosha's locally canned products meet stringent Namibia Standards Institute requirements and are even halaal certified.
“Despite past and current challenges, Etosha Fishing is extremely proud to produce a quality product such as this, caught and canned locally. Through this endeavour we have once again committed ourselves to the creation of jobs and value addition to one of Namibia's most valuable fish resources,” Greeff said.
The minister of fisheries and marine resources, Bernard Esau, directed efforts to add value in the production of horse mackerel products in 2014. As a result, fishing companies must ensure that beneficiation occurs with 2% of their total allowable catch
“We want to see more value addition and job creations in the fishing industry. Horse mackerel is allocated the largest quota, yet the hake industry employs more people. We must maximise our resources and create 30 000 extra jobs, as the horse mackerel fishery has the capacity to do so,” he said previously of the drive to encourage value addition of horse mackerel products.
OGONE TLHAGE
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