Artur Omarov: ‘Nowadays we have a solution for salmon’

Nowadays there is an acute shortage of quality fish in the market. Russian salmon production is a good alternative in the current situation, claimed founder of Siberian Luxury Bar fish delicatessen brand Artur Omarov claimed in a live with Realnoe Vremya.

According to him, even low-quality fish is now more expensive than good one earlier.

“Now there is an acute shortage of feedstock in the market, due to this prices have surged. Now we pay 1,5 times more for even Murmansk salmon than we did four months ago when we bought trout,” said the founder of the fish delicatessen brand.

Artur Omarov noted that salmon is the most popular fish in the market because it is an ingredient in many dishes, including in sandwiches, croissants, salads and so on.

“And today we have a solution for salmon. We can offer an alternative: Russian feedstock producers from Anadyr, Sakhalin, the Far East are now increasing the output,” he claimed. According to him, its quality is good, a decent substitution for salmon, so the problem of the shortage of quality feedstock can be solved soon, in 2-3 months.”

As for the price of fish, Artur Omarov claimed that as soon as a good alternative with good quality, and it is ready to eat, appears, the market will get “a decent offer for a reasonable price.”

“The market can somehow get the price back, and we will satisfy at least a part of the market. I think that other producers are also following this path because the problem is urgent,” the businessman said.

Now, amid sanctions, producers have to look for new ways of delivering foreign feedstock.

“We tried to bring salmon to the market via Kazakhstan. But when working with two big fish suppliers in Kazakhstan, I faced a problem that people unwillingly deal with salmon, for instance. In other words, huge amounts need to be brought, and because of the logistic paralysis the price will be higher than for our ice-cooled fish. I think this story — bring fish through a friendly country — won’t influence the fall in the price,” said Artur Omarov.

The speaker also stressed that the state is now actively helping fish businesses:

“I think now the state has created all the conditions in the market to offer producers some alternatives. I don’t see any barriers in this respect. The state supported us very much during the pandemic too, and in general we cannot complain,” the businessman explained. In his opinion, everything depends on the creativity and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs running a fish business.