In recent years, the Portuguese have eaten four to five tons of cod on Christmas Eve alone. The country’s consumption of this fish is recovering from the impact of inflation, so the Christmas season is expected to see “strong” figures similar to previous years, the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) told Luse.
“Consumption is at a good level right now, but to explain that now we have to look at what has happened since August last year with inflation and rising food prices. It was very difficult, but now we see that trade is more normal, more stable,” Trond Rismo, director of the National Security Service of Portugal, said in an interview with Lusa.
Cod consumption in Portugal is therefore expected to remain “high” over Christmas.
According to NSC estimates, cod consumption in December will range from 25% to 30% of the total.
In recent years, the Portuguese have eaten four to five tons of this fish on Christmas Eve alone.
“It’s also worth highlighting per capita consumption. [por pessoa]. Last year we had a decrease of 3%, but this year we are returning to normal levels and according to our estimates, this is somewhere around 15-16 kilograms of cod, which is an incredibly high figure,” he said.
The NSC is still looking forward to consumer behavior next year following the removal of zero VAT on the food basket, a measure taken by the government to curb the impact of rising prices.
Despite this, Trond Rismo assured that cod remains a very important product, especially for the retail trade.
“Last year I didn’t see many promotions for Christmas, only two weeks before. At the beginning of the first half of this year, especially in the summer, I have already seen some promotions. I believe retailers are doing this. to attract customers. They want consumption to return,” he stressed.
The NSC allocated about 600 thousand euros for the Christmas campaign in Portugal alone.
Until September, exports of fresh, frozen and salted cod from Norway to Portugal fell 10% compared to 2022, but the price rose 22%, according to the NSC.
In September alone, volumes decreased by 2%, and prices increased by 9%.
This month, total seafood exports reached almost NOK 16,000 million (approx. EUR 1,391 million), up from NOK 14,610 million in the same month in 2022.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.