We need to know what is being served on dinner and restaurant tables in China, Korea, Singapore and Brazil. The following two examples illustrate what I mean: Not many people within European gastronomy attach much value to fish heads. However, in other cuisines, a fish’s head is one of the most valuable parts of the animal (at least with certain fish species). Most of us now know this, but just think how many fish heads were discarded or used for petfood until we realised what a precious ingredient fish heads are in much Asian cooking. Another example is the body of the female lumpfish. Not many Europeans relish sinking their teeth into this – but in a Chinese soup it can be perfectly delicious, and in some parts of China consumers greatly appreciate the gristly texture which we Europeans are averse to. Previously, fishermen only kept the roe and threw away the bodies of these fish because they had no use for them. Which from a sustainability perspective is a terrible thing to do. Now, as the body can be sold, Royal Greenland lands the lumpfish to the delight of consumers who eat it, and the fishermen who catch it. This is a superb example of the advantages that come from being close to the fish and the consumer. What you need to ask yourself is: • Are you helping to ensure that consumers and fish meet? • Are you helping to ensure that the right fish finds its way to the right consumers? • Are you helping to ensure that we in Royal Greenland know as much as possible about fish consumers worldwide (and not just our existing consumers)? • Are you helping to ensure that we in Royal Greenland know as much as possible about as many fish as possible (and not just the fish we already catch)? As I wrote in the last number of Navigatio, we are well on the way to becoming a financially robust company. Soon we will be ready to make some expansionary moves. However, a precondition for expansion is that most Royal Greenland employees can answer “yes” to some of these questions. I would like to emphasise that this should not be an unpleasant duty! Rather, it makes more sense to go to work if we understand why we are doing it. In Royal Greenland, we do not land fish for the sake of it – we land fish because we know that there are consumers around the world who derive pleasure from eating them. And in Royal Greenland we don’t sell fish we just happen to have caught – we sell the world’s best shellfish and fish from a part of the world which is dear to us. NAVIGATIO NO. 35 2012 1
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