Canned variegated scallops from the Galician estuaries. (Photo: Frinsa/FIS)

Canned variegated scallop marketing started

SPAIN
Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 16:30 (GMT + 9)

Ferrol fishing cooperative will begin the sale of canned variegated scallops (Chlamys varia) this week, a bivalve mollusc that has so far been underutilized.

The association will receive the first cans with 65 grams of product each after checking the "good quality" and the market potential.

Proponents of the initiative expect to place some 3,000 cans of variegated scallops on the market to be sold to the public and to supermarkets.

According to Jaime Gabarri, one of the representatives of shellfish producers in Ferrol, the group is a pioneer in this because "no other Galician fishermen’s association has done it before.”

The local government expects the sale of this product will be very profitable, La Opinion reported.

"We do not intend to become millionaire with this but we would like to make a profit trying to exploit something that so far has not been marketed," explains Gabarri.

Each can will cost EUR 3.50 for the public although the product will also be intended to reach supermarkets at a special price of about EUR 2 plus VAT.

The advantage of this product is that as it is canned, it does not require purification and can be captured during the whole year.

But not many workers are involved in capturing it.

"We only have two ships to go and catch variegated scallops and there are a total of six of us in the crew," admits Gabarri.

So as to promote this product, the fishermen’s association is preparing a website in which consumers will be shown the entire process: variegated scallop capture, canning and packaging.

"We are planning to video shots for people to know how much work is involved in this, which is a lot. We want to show everything: from the time the boats capture the variegated scallops up to the classification process going through the boiling process in pots, how we remove the meat and finally, the canning process at the factory," he adds.

On the other hand, the fishermen’s cooperative in Ferrol assures the direct gutted scallop sales campaign launched last April was "very positive."

The fishermen’s associations managed to sell all the product and plans to start a new campaign next month.

By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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