Gordon Food Service Market Updates Seafood section for Market Update: May 11, 2018 Seafood Finfish Cod, Alaskan 1x: Alaskan A season opened in January but supply remains tight and costs have firmed, this is partly due to decreased quota in other regions of the world. Costs have remained elevated even after Lent and are expected to remain this way through the end of the year. Cod, Atlantic 1x: The 1x frozen cod loins have been firm but steady on cost.sales were strong for Lent as we await new season arrival in late May early June. 1x frozen fillets out of Russia have been steady but costs have increased this spring. A total allowable catch reduction out of the Barents Sea by as much as 13% has put considerable pressure on cod supply and cost world wide. In the end a lot will depend on how much the market and customer is willing to bear. Cod, Atlantic 2x: Fishing in Northern Europe has concluded. Total catch this season ispoor and raw material is in short supply for2018 until early 2019 when fishing resumes. Cod, Pacific 2x: Heavy restrictions on total allowable catch in certain Alaskan fishing grounds. Raw material is now more expensive than Atlantic cod and expected to firm continuously for all of 2018. Pollock, Atlantic 1x: Expect cost to firm on the 1x frozen pollock as we start to move into the summer
season. With cod costs rising and the overall lack of supply of that commodity, many are switching to the cheaper priced pollock. While pollock still is at a cost savings and a value this added pressure on supply has resulted in increased costs for this species as well. Pollock, Pacific 2x: Slight firming of pricing. Starting to see substitution demand from cod users. Haddock: Raw material prices firming due to the cheapest ground fish compared to Pacific and Atlantic cod. Continued substitutions from cod consumers driving up demand and cost. Available raw material is in short supply. Domestic Lake Fish: The Lake Erie Committee recently announced the quotas for the 2018 fishing season. Perch total allowable catches / quota is to remain relatively the same while the walleye quota has increased by approx 8 % lake wide. Supply currently is adequate and costs are declining as we enter the month of May. Prices are expected to be more stable this season and lower than 2017 in generalwith no anticipated interruptionin supply. Euro Lake Fish & Zander: Supply is good and costs have declined after Lent on key sizes.this is a more cost effective substitute for the higher priced domestic lake fish items where applicable. Mahi Mahi: The S American Mahi season began last fall and costs have softened compared to last season. Prices have adjusteddownward and should stabilize for most of the summer grilling season. Supply is plentiful. Frozen Tuna: Frozen tuna has been very steady on supply and cost out of Asia for all cuts and sizes. Expect this to continue to be stable for the next few months. Swai:
Cost fingerlings increased after Chinese New Year instead when market expected a drop. US trade commission assesses preliminary higher duty rates in Swai. Prices firm with short supply until end of 2018/early 2019. Tilapia: Low production during this time of the year. Prices recently firmed. Seafood Shrimp Imported Black Tiger: Black Tiger shrimp prices are stable and supply is improving on smaller sizes. There are shortages of large sizes due to limited production (2-4 through 8-12). Imported White: White shrimp prices are at a great value due to their recent declines as we head into spring. Demand has been steady and is expected to increase into the warmer months. Raw material minimums are being implemented overseas to protect the market from going to an unstable level but demand will drive market prices. Latin White: Latin White shrimp are mostly stable in pricing however buying interest has been high on shrimp smaller than 41/50 HLSO which could lead to markets firming. Domestic White & Brown: Domestic White & Brown shrimp continue to move upward due to limited availability and good demand. There is a lack of inventory to carry from last season to next, which puts pressure on prices to move up in an attempt to stretch inventory. Boats have also moved off these species where they can to target pink shrimp. Domestic PUD:
Domestic PUD shrimp are following the same trend as White & Brown Headless. Prices are stable at listed levels as early spring production has not been substantial. Additional fishing will be had as we run into May/June, which hopefully yield cost reductions. Domestic Rock & Pink: Rock & Pink shrimp are both in good supply. Pink shrimp in particular have had very good catch rates in the last few weeks as boats have moved away from browns and whites to target them specifically. Seafood Lobster North Atlantic: The lobster season began May 1st, but to date there have been limitedoffers. Expect productto really start arriving to the states for sale in the next 10 days to two weeksthere is stilla heavy pull on whole cooks and whole rawgoing to Asia so the cost of new seasontail and meat prices hasyet to be determined. Note that the market has been short prior to the start of the seasonespecially on the smaller 3/4 and 4/5 oz tailsand it might take a few added weeks before costs stabilize. Thelarger tails are predominatelyharvestedin the fall so expectprices to be firmon the 6/7 oz and largertails. Meat prices this winter have been very sloppy but started to stabilizelate spring. Warm Water: Costs have softened some on the smaller sizes but supply remains adequate. Expect new season arrivals in late June early July. Seafood Crab Snow Crab: The global shortage of snow crab will continue in 2018. The Canadian quotas have been announced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada with the overall quota down by 27% for all of Canada. The Alaskan quota has already announced a smaller total
allowable catch (TAC) as well. For now, costs remain elevated and supply tight especially on the larger sizes 8 and 10 ups. Full straightloads of dedicatedsizes have been harder to come by as crab landings have been low to date. The Japanese continue to buy mostlynewfoundland crab at the moment but will buy fromthe Gulf as well to fulfill their needs.as zone12 has opened this week we hope to see more offeringsas they startto come down tothe states. Note of product that has been harvested 60% are 5/8 and 35-30% are 8 ups. King Crab: King crab supply is very short to none of the USA production. Most at the moment is being imported from Russia. The live trade from Russia to China is impacting the Russian cost. For now costs remain elevated overall with supply adequate. Seafood Scallops The scallop season has begun one month later in April for the 2018 season and boats have made a mad dash to get started. With the announcement of newly opened restricted areas and an overall increase in quota, we expect costs to lower and stabilize to more reasonable levels by late May into June.Todate costs have adjusted downward monthly