Salmon prices tripled because of Asian demand

Salmon prices are on the rise: Norwegian salmon has become 300 % more expensive in the past five years. Growing Asian demand is the culprit, even though the farmers also had several setbacks.

Strong image, from East to West

Salmon’s enormous popularity has impacted the price: according to Norway’s Institute for Statistics, Norwegian salmon’s price has grown from 25 krona per kilo to 76 krona per kilo. There is a rapidly increasing demand in growth countries like China and Brazil, but salmon also enjoys a solid reputation in the West, as it is considered an accessible and healthy fish.

Manufacturers cannot keep up with the demand, importer Pittman Seafoods’ Yoke Vandepitte told De Standaard. Stricter regulations limits production increases: “Recent projections says we will only be able to grow 6.7 % in the next twelve months. Don’t forget that the salmon’s entire breeding process takes three years: it takes a while before additional licenses will result in more products.”

Diseases and parasites

The farmers also had to deal with parasites and diseases in 2016: the world’s largest salmon producer, Norway, had to deal with sea lice and South America (with Chile as the world’s second largest manufacturer) had toxic red algae, which were both a huge blow for the manufacturing process.

Other species will also probably become more expensive in the future, especially because of increased Asian demand. Lobsters and crab are both becoming more popular in Asia.