The only French salmon farmer Saumon de France has experienced growing demand online under the pandemic.
While their two stores in France have had to close during the lock down of the country, the sales over the world wide web has been multiplied by four times.
“During the last months, our internet sales have grown very fast. Our sales from the stores has been compensated by internet purchases,” says Pascal Goumain CEO and founder of Saumon de France to SalmonBusiness.
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From selling salmon for the value of around EUR 5,000 a month online, the sales have exceeded EUR 20,000 the last month on the company’s own online store.
The farmer has since 2013 been producing salmon locally and only sell their products in France. The aquaculture farm is located in the harbour of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the largest harbour in France. Saumon de France raise salmon in the English Channel and harvests around 400 metric tonnes of salmon a month.
Switching to Business to costumer strategy
March and April is usually low season for the company, but this year has been different.
“I think because we produce locally, the interest for our products have grown. I don’t know how it has been for salmon exporters in other countries, but I imagine it has not been as easy with logistics in regards to transportation,” says Pascal Goumain.
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At the moment the company is selling most business to business, but as this period has shown an increased interest from costumers wishing to by directly from the company, this will be a growing part of the company’s strategy forward.
“All the other farmers sell to other companies, we want to sell more directly to the costumer,” he says.
Concerned about the absence of the restaurant sector
The CEO describes their products as niche products in France, because they farm locally unlike other salmon in France, where the fish is imported from Chile, Norway and Scotland. But as the whole hospitality sector is washed away, the future for this market concerns the CEO.
“We have had no difficulty selling our products to both salmon smokers and supermarkets. The demand in the supermarkets has of course grown, but at the same time it is concerning that the restaurant sector is gone,” Pascal Goumain explains.
At the moment France is said to open up 11th of May, if the numbers of infected people keeps decreasing. But Pascal Goumain is worried that many restaurants will have a hard time opening up again, and that the absence of tourists in the coming months will influence the market significantly.
“We will miss out on international tourist this summer, and how long it will take for this market to restore is unknown,” he says.
Saumon de France is happy that they in many ways are protected by legislation inside the country and the current demand and interest of buying locally produced french products.
“People need to eat, we think fish is important for our health. If the government plays our game, I believe the whole industry can survive this crisis,” concludes Pascal Goumain.