Denmark – European champion in organic rainbow trout

In 2014 Denmark was the biggest producer of organic rainbow trout in Europe with a total amount of 1,080 tons. The producers of the organic trout had a better economic earning than the conventional producers, measured per unit produced. The value wason average 8 % higher per unit than for the conventional producers. The solvency ratio was in 2012 an average of 28 %, which was higher than the traditional trout producers’ solvency ratio (solvency ratio measure an enterprises ability to meet its debt and other obligations). The Danish producers and processing industry are now in the front on the organic trout market. The Danish producers of organic trout are now able to keep a constant supply throughout the year. The variety of products has been increased due to certification of a saltwater facility that can supply the market with roe and bigger fish of up to 4 kg. The numbers of processing companies have increased, to the benefit of the primary producers that have more possibilities to sell their goods. At the same time there are several primary producers that have allowance to sell the organic trout as whole, gutted fish to the public. At the domestic market, organic trout can be brought into specific supermarket chains and to specific fish retailers. A new sector is ‘food-service’, which are rewarded with different labels accordingly to the amount of used organic food. One important parameter for increasing the sale of organic trout could be introduction of labels on the products. A desk study has been done and the empiric results shows that the consumers are willing to pay a premium of 24% to 38% more for an organic product with a label on the package. Studies of consumes willingness to pay more for a certain product are normally difficult to conduct and to get reliable results. Due to this uncertainty it would be more relevant to compare the consumers’ willingness to pay for fish products with sustainability labels compared to product without labels. This difference is between 10 to 13% in favor of the labeled product. A study of relevant consumer perception towards organic fish has been conducted. The result was that these studies are not directly relevant, either because they are too old (15 years or more), or that the consumers did not know organic fish products beforehand. The more recent the study the more positive attitudes form the consumers. Future trends and tendencies indicate that the organic trout products are having a good possibility to conquer more market shares from similar traditional product