Italy Chosen for Salmon Investment Boost

This year, Italy was chosen as one of the markets for a new case investment project for salmon. The main objectives have been to increase learning and test new activities and approaches that can contribute to achieving the main goals set for the Italian market.

Since 2017 the Norwegian Seafood Council, together with the market group for salmon and trout, has explored larger investments in 1-2 markets each year.

Still Room for Growth in the Italian Market

Due to growth in chain-based restaurants in Italy, and the positive development in salmon sales within this channel, it was decided to do this case investment targeted towards the HoReCa sector.

– Even though salmon has been performing well in Italy, we have analyses showing us that there is still room for growth in sales and increased storytelling around the product, Country Director for Italy, Tom-Jørgen Gangsø, says.

For instance, it is expected that the number of poké restaurants in Italy could double, from 1 000 restaurants today, to 2 000 restaurants in just a couple of years.

Therefore, the goal of this project has been to strengthen the visibility of Norwegian salmon in chain-based restaurants, as well as Cash and Carry, to support future growth in these sales-channels.

Case Investment Project in Three Phases

The project has had three main phases:

• Phase 1 - Preliminary study and interviews with some of the main players in the HoReCa sector
  

• Phase 2 - Consumer survey in the biggest cities in Italy and finalisation of market analysis

• Phase 3 - Market strategy and action plan

During phase one, in-depth interviews were conducted with market experts from prominent companies in relevant HoReCa businesses and in Cash and Carry sectors. The interviewees included key decision-makers in 17 companies.

In phase two, 500 interviews were conducted with OOH customers living in the major metropolitan areas in Italy, who are more exposed to new trends and frequent new restaurants more often.

Announcing New Agreements

– We are also pleased to announce that we have teamed up and entered into agreements with Capatoast, Pescaria, and Poke Sun Rice, and there are still more new partnerships to come. These companies all have different food offerings, including salmon toasts, salmon burgers and of course salmon poké, Gangsø says.

Additionally, The Norwegian Seafood Council has secured an agreement with the Cash and Carry business Docks. All these partnerships will be in place for the next 6–12 months and will include the use of the Seafood from Norway trademark, the term "Salmone Norvegese” and more storytelling about salmon from Norway in both offline and online channels.

Some of them will also include the launch of “limited-edition” dishes with salmon, PR, and academies for staff to increase the knowledge about Norwegian salmon.

Italian Consumer Insights

In the new insights presented in the Norwegian Seafood Councils Top Seafood Consumer Trends report, it was revealed how important country of origin and sustainability is for customers globally.

Nearly 8 out of 10 Italians answered that it was important to them that fish and seafood was marked with origin-labelling when shopping for salmon. 7 out of 10 also remarked that sustainable seafood products were relevant when choosing where to shop for salmon products.

– The new insights from this report, together with the data from Italian HoReCa Channel report, show us the potential for Norwegian salmon in the Italian market. The expected growth of salmon as a product, combined with consumer-expectations, makes it clear that Norwegian salmon marked with origin has great potential in both B2B and B2C, Gangsø states.

Proximity Campaigns Planned for Next Year

– Starting from the beginning of next year, we also plan to do a proximity campaign to drive traffic to restaurants offering salmon from Norway, Gangsø explains.

This will be done by using different technologies, among them geo-localization. This will ensure that potential customers receive push notifications with information that tells them where to eat salmon for lunch or dinner when they are located in certain areas in big cities such as Milan, Rome, or Turin.

– We’re excited to see the results of the ongoing campaigns, as well as starting new ones next year. I believe there is a lot of potential in using technology like this, which will give us the possibility to effectively showcase Norwegian salmon at the right moment – and to the right customers, Gangsø concludes.

The findings from the interviews and the consumer survey in the Italian HoReCa Channel report are available for the Norwegian Seafood Industry.

Visit the Italian Country page
Read all the new insights and statistics for Norwegian seafood in Italy