German seafood giant Deutsche See’s managing director, Hartwig Retzlaffs, announces new focus at online press conference.
Retzlaff was one of the speakers at the online press conference organised by German fair Fish International, in preparation its next edition in February 2018.
“Iceland is an example for us, because of its focus on sustainability. It’s the only country in the world that is 100 percent sustainable in its use of energy resources,” Retzlaff said. “We recently hired several Icelandic employees, for purchasing of fish from Iceland. A very interesting addition to our business, because of the cultural exchange.”
Prices still too high
For salmon, too, Deutsche See has an eye on Iceland. “Of course we buy most of our farmed salmon in Norway, where, in our opinion, the prices are still far too high. We have been trying to focus the interest of our customers a bit more to other products. But consumers like salmon, so it will remain a very important product.”
In the eyes of the public, Norwegian salmon is associated with industry, says Retzlaff. “We are not industrially oriented, so we carefully choose the farms we buy from. We look at quality of feed, water, fish density, ways of slaughtering and logistics, to be able to communicate this to our customers.”
Digitalisation
Deutsche See recently started buying small quantities of salmon from Iceland. “The Icelandic farms are small-scale, and the growing methods are very meticulous. The water quality is excellent and the fish are handled with a lot of care.”
At the next Fish International, Deutsche See will showcase Iceland and digitalization. “We believe digitalisation changes the way we do business, and our relations with our customers. Every customer is also a consumer. We recently started an online shop and already notice this led to very useful feedback from consumers.”
Deutsche See Fischmanufaktur is a large seafood player in Germany and owns three brands: Deutsche See, Beeck and City Farming. Some 1,700 staff work at 23 subsidiaries across Germany and plant in Bremerhaven and Hamburg.
