--- A few weeks ago we provided a brief report on the Pollock market. Recent market reports state once frozen Pollock between $1.95 and $2.40/lb depending on size and freezing methods.

The twice frozen Pollock market has been climbing, and according to Urner Barry is now between $1.35-$1.45/lb. Pollock in general is a very price sensitive commodity.

There always appears to be a ceiling that consumers are willing to pay.

Speculation is that the market is reaching its limit especially in the twice frozen segment.

However, limited raw materials in general seem to show that a further increase might come for the twice frozen product.

Once frozen fillets, especially the larger fillets, have increased in price 10-15 cents over the past 2 weeks from $2.15 to $2.30 per lb. Current raw materials for Russian and Alaskan products have remained steady at higher levels than the same time over last year.

This again indicates a strong fillet market for months to come.

Often Pollock Roe is a factor in the fillet market. This year was a great season for the Pollock Roe with large volumes, but the market price for the roe dropped just slightly, and had no impact overall on the fillet market.

--- Now onto a topic that affects us all. How often do you run into competitors with pricing “too good to be true?” It seems this happens often in the marketplace.

Despite lobbying to get tighter government controls on net weights, over soaking and other methods of cheating, the market still has consistent cheating issues.

This week we are testing a National brand Cod loin that is approximately 25-30 cents per lb below market.

Initial findings show that the entire glazed case weighed 10 lbs in the frozen state - clearly there is a net weight issue in this instance, which explains the price difference. We are taking this a step further and will start sharing these reports.

In addition, if you are running into these problems, contact us immediately and we will work together to get the samples to our lab.

We will provide full reports back to you so that you can go in comparing same products and prove that quality and honesty will grow the category.

Lets avoid the “if I don’t get a complaint its not that bad” head in the sand approach and lead the industry to growth.

 

---Thanks for joining me for the Tradex Foods "3-Minute Market Insight" This is Rob Reierson - “BUY SMART” and “EAT MORE SEAFOOD”

If you have a topic you'd like to hear on upcoming 3-Minute Market Insights, tweet us on Twitter @TradexFoods