Italy’s growing appetite for salmon

“Italy is the fourth largest European market for salmon and a market that we can grow further,” says Norway’s fisheries envoy to the country, Merete Kristiansen.

Norway currently has a 95% share of Italy’s salmon market, and the council is planning a USD $10 million advertising campaign in Italy over the course of October and November in order to get more Italians to eat Norwegian salmon. The initiative is a continuation of the campaign "Norwegian Salmon - My best secret" that started last autumn, and is aimed at families with children.

“We did a similar campaign last year. It received good response. Knowledge of the Norwegian salmon increased from 48 to 51 per cent. The preference for salmon everyday also increased from twelve to 16 per cent. The chains sold two to three times more during the promotional period and salmon are now the first choice of all species when the Italians should have fish dinner,” says Kristiansen.

Russian sanctions have meant that the Council has been able to move half a million dollars from Russia for marketing – both in-store and through TV campaigns – in Italy.

Salmon Analyst at Norwegian Seafood Council, Paul T Aandahl, maintains greater purchasing power and modernization of the structure of the retail industry as valuable for salmon exports to the country.

“Italy is a growing market, especially northern Italy. The retail level of trade is best right there,” he says.

Norway’s salmon exports to Italy totalled NOK 1.3 billion in 2013, against NOK 853 million the year before, which is an increase of more than 50 per cent. Overall, exports of Norwegian seafood to Italy reached NOK 1.8 billion last year. The previous year, exports were NOK 1.3 billion.