The Russians stopped eating fish: the reasons are named
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Among Russians, there are still enough of those who remember that “Thursday is a fish day”, but people’s attitudes towards seafood and rivers change every day. In the past decade, shrimp has become an almost everyday dish, a slightly more expensive analogue of beef, but the crises of recent years have changed everything, and fish and seafood are once again considered delicacies. Today, fish is eaten primarily for the sake of good, and only then – for the sake of taste, and there are fewer gourmets and fans.
The most common remark of Russians who are asked about the use of fish is that they would buy more often, but it is too expensive. Many recall the old days: they say that in the USSR, fish was a cheap analogue of meat, it was available to everyone, why is it not so now? However, as explained by Alexander Fomin, executive director of the Association of Industrial and Commercial Enterprises of the Fish Market, it is necessary to understand all the nuances of different eras.
— Buyers are increasingly asking the question: why is fish more expensive than meat? However, those who have been abroad know very well that fish is more expensive than meat all over the world. Only in the USSR, fish was cheap, because there were subsidies. Now this is unrealistic, so the prices are objective, there is no need to criticize them. What is holding back the growth of fish consumption in the country? First of all, consumer preference. Not everyone likes the fish that is on our counter. We consider fatty fish to be delicious: halibut, flounder, etc. But we catch a little of such fish, about 30%. Most of the catch is completely different, for example, the modest pollock, which is not popular. This is our problem. Restrictions on imports have also exacerbated the situation: now it is difficult or very expensive to deliver the fish that people like.
According to Fomin, everything is very simple: first you need to solve the problem with the level of income and consumption culture, and only then think about promoting fish. He also noted that those Russians who love fish agree to raise prices, for example, today a modest pink salmon costs 450-500 rubles, although five years ago you could buy chilled salmon for this money.
– And nothing, people take, there is nowhere to give, – Fomin summed up.
He added that the average level of fish consumption in Russia today is 21.5 kg per person per year.
According to VTsIOM expert Kirill Rodin, the overall level of fish consumption in Russia is declining, but at the same time, the assortment is also declining. The main worrying trend is the reduction of the “nuclear audience”, gourmets and fish fans, there is simply no fish on the shelves that they would like to buy (or it has become too expensive). The number of indifferent is growing.
– We conducted a telephone survey and found out: people eat fish only because it is useful. This is the main reason. Because tasty is the second argument, moreover, by a wide margin. The number of people who consume fish at least once a week has dropped from 68% to 42% in the past five years.
According to Rodin, most of those who eat fish are adherents of a healthy lifestyle. They eat because they need to. It is prepared weekly: in the menu of Russians – fried, baked, boiled, stewed, fish cakes … If we talk about the top 5 popular species, then the list is obvious: mackerel, herring, pink salmon, pollock, trout, salmon. The assortment has been significantly reduced, there is no diversity here. Finding exotics like parrot fish or good old (and expensive) Russian classics like sturgeon is getting harder every year.
Olga Shanaeva, Deputy Head of Roskachestvo, stressed that Russia is among the top five world leaders in catching fish, but a decrease in fish consumption is still inevitable.
— The leader in the catch of pollock, but in sales it is far from the first place. Retail chains note a decrease, up to 18%, of buyers’ interest in fish and seafood, while other positions remain at the same level. There is no product on the shelves that our citizens would like to buy. People love salmon varieties of fish, but they are constantly becoming more expensive, many cannot afford them. More than 75% of respondents admitted that the price prevents them from buying fish. The next problem is our lagging consumption culture and lack of awareness. People just don’t understand and don’t know fish,” Shanaeva explained.
Shanaeva also stressed that young buyers are not ready to cut, clean and gut fish on their own, they need to buy fillets that can be quickly and easily prepared (or even better, eat fish in a Japanese restaurant as part of sushi). According to her, retail chains will have to not only sell fish, but also tell consumers how to cook it tasty and quickly. We will have to focus on the younger generation, because they have the most dynamic income growth in their hands.
Newspaper headline:
We do not need such pollock
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