Fifax’s management has taken a “hope for the best” attitude here. By forcibly trying to process “wrong” fish and indirectly blaming the customer for financial problems, the leverage has shifted to the customers in further negotiations. It couldn’t have been very surprising that with the customer who paid an advance being the only delivery point, cash flow would remain weak. Rarely do you get a joker in a single-card game.
Fish wholesalers tend to be quite short-tempered because the retail sector immediately reacts if the fish size is wrong, as it directly affects sales.
Now, trust must be re-earned.
Samppa said in an interview on March 5th that sufficient sorting could not be done due to lack of space. There was a bit of greed, and not all facilities were ready on time.
Overcrowding during cultivation causes variations in size and slows down growth, and this increases the longer the cultivation progresses, as larger fish get to eat more. These issues have been known for a long time, and a solution should have been found faster to maintain customer deliveries.
@Kajuuna This development has not come as a surprise, as the fish are constantly under observation. Size can be surprising in fish growing in cages in natural waters. The magnitude of size variation might be a bit surprising. I would say that they were forced to take the risk of processing, hoping the fish would be acceptable.
For example, salmon has grown well in Norway, and 5-7% larger delivery volumes are expected from there this year than in 2024. For instance, Mowi expects to process 18% more in Q2 than in 2024. Prices have been falling in Q1, and preliminary statistics indeed indicate the same trend for salmon for the rest of the year. For domestic rainbow trout, the growing season has only just begun.