For New Zealand salmon producer NZ King Salmon there’s been a silver lining to the grey volcanic cloud that descended on Europe in April.
When flights to and from the continent were cancelled because of fallout from the eruption of Iceland’s Mt Eyjafjallajokull, the New Zealand company stepped in to meet urgent fish orders in the Middle East and Asia.
Company sales staff had arrived at work on a Monday morning to find fax machines and emails brimming with salmon orders. Air shipments of Atlantic salmon from European suppliers had been grounded.
NZ King Salmon CEO Grant Rosewarne says customers in Dubai, Singapore, Osaka and Tokyo all upped their orders substantially because of the groundings.
“Dubai’s order was 100 times the norm while the other orders doubled,” Mr Rosewarne says.
Fortunately NZ King Salmon was able to fulfil the urgent orders by doubling its daily harvest early in the week- an extra 10,000 fish – and by putting on an extra shift.
Mr Rosewarne says the orders were great news in terms of sales and the company was pleased to be able to help out its valued customers in times of need.
“But it has also been important in that we have been able to provide the opportunity for many more diners in those markets to experience our premium King salmon as opposed to the more common Atlantic salmon.
“We also believe those customers sampling NZ King salmon from New Zealand have noticed its significant differences to Atlantic salmon – our superior taste, vibrant colour, firm texture and naturally-high Omega-3 content.
“We certainly expect that for many of them it will not prove to be a one-off experience.”
NZ King Salmon is New Zealand’s biggest integrated aquaculture producer and the world’s biggest farmer and supplier of the King salmon variety. King salmon has the highest natural oil content of all salmon – a rich source of healthy Omega-3.
Source: NZ King Salmon
