THE price of salt fish (salted codfish), a key ingredient in Jamaica’s national dish, is getting more expensive due to a combination of factors including the declining value of the Jamaican dollar and competition for supplies with other consuming nations in South America and Eastern Europe. So far those factors have resulted in an average 30 per cent increase in the price of salt fish year over year and a big jump in pricing in April 2022.

Notable movements in the price were reported on retail shelves this month, with the consumer item selling for $800 per pound compared to $500 per pound in early March at some shops.

Roger Lyn, director of marketing and corporate affairs at Rainforest Seafoods, told the Jamaica Observer, “Since last year the price of saltfish has gone up 27 per cent, March over March and 25 per cent April over April.”

“Meanwhile, the Jamaican dollar marked to market declined 4.5 per cent year over year. The dollar continues to move, sliding two per cent in April 2020 year to date (April 13). We don’t know where it will be by month end.”

These are factors, he stated, affecting the pricing of saltfish as a commodity, with retailers also adding their different margins.

Lyn states that Jamaica is the largest market for salt fish in the English-speaking Caribbean, and while the protein cannot compete with chicken in demand level, it is a valuable sale item with good margins.

However, buyers in the island are competing with the Dominican Republic and Brazil in this hemisphere, as well as Portugal and several Eastern European countries which are even bigger consumers.

When prices rise and local buyers hesitate, the same shipment will disappear in hours, the marketing manager outlined.

Salt fish imported to Jamaica is principally saithe, a member of the cod family, which is less high end than previous varieties of cod imported. Saithe however has the same texture.

The Norwegian website Saithe – Jacob Bjørge AS (jacob-bjorge.com) describes saithe (pollachius virens) as a member of the cod family which can reach 120cm in length and weigh more than 20kg. During production, the fish is cleaned, washed and split.

The fish is stacked with layers of salt and after two to three weeks, the salting process is complete and the fish is then dried.

The fish should be stored in a dry and cool location at a temperature of between two and five degrees, and it will then have a shelf life of one to two years. Salt fish retains its taste and nutritional value, it is noted.

There are other varieties of cod which are more highly priced than saithe and are considered gourmet inputs. Other white fish such as pollock, hake and haddock are offered salted and dried at a lower cost than cod fish with strong demand.

Will prices fall?

Lyn, in reflecting on the possibility of prices coming back to 2020 or even 2021 levels, commented, “ The salt fish business operates like a cooperative with producers working together. Catch goes by the season and is subject to government quotas. Fishing is heavily regulated in Norway to protect sustainability. It is a big industry worth billions and it is protected.”

In order for prices to fall, the marketing manager proposes, “Producers would have to deliver a lot more, assuming they can get a quota. Freight rates would also have to come down and demand would also have to slow.” So far, none of these factors are occurring, or are in place.

The price of salt fish, he says, has been going up never down.

The seafood expert explained, “First and foremost, there is greater demand on salt fish and the supply is not catching up. We just can’t keep pace. The biggest markets are the Dominican Republic, Portugal and Eastern Europe

“Brazil and Portugal are the largest markets. We compete with these markets which have higher per capita income.”

The marketing manager said that pent-up demand, built up during the height of COVID when many goods were in short supply, is also influencing competition from richer nations.

“When COVID started and everything got jammed, whatever was produced already got delayed. Consumption also slowed because they could not get the product. When supplies became freer, they were also met by increased consumption.

“More people are consuming the product just like oxtail. It’s priced like steak. It tells you a lot more people are eating than they were before. All food groups are being affected,” Lyn said.

The manager told the Business Observer that in Eastern Europe, traders were also buying the fish unsalted.

“We buy dry salted with most merchandise going on the dry shelf. In Eastern Europe they are buying the product before it’s salted, buying the wet product in bags and paying at the same price we pay for salted. Producers there benefit from selling at the same price unsalted.”

“That also is affecting the supply chain in terms of what comes here. If I book a container of salted fish from Norway at $10 per pound, for example, when it reaches the destination price can change. If I don’t take it, someone else will.”

Rainforest Seafoods, he said, is looking at different markets globally to source food supplies traded in the Caribbean.

“Right now we have to be seeking different markets,” Lyn outlined, citing on going lockdowns in areas of China, and noting, “Products are slowly coming out of that side of the world. We thought it would have changed. Food security is still hanging in the balance.”

Companies, such as Rainforest, he outlined, have to be “thinking on their feet,” considering new markets. Traditional sources have been affected by changes under COVID conditions leading to low production and outputs and war in Ukraine which has affected sunflower oil, wheat and other food supplies.

In the Caribbean, companies are, further, competing with Europe for new source markets. “It’s a global village,” stated Lyn.