Download International - University of Arizona

Tilapia Marketing in
the Americas
Kevin Fitzsimmons, Ph.D.
Professor - University of Arizona
Sec. / Tres. - American Tilapia Association
President - US. Aquaculture Soc. Chapter
of WAS
August 2001
Tilapia introductions to the
Americas
 Oreochromis
mossambicus first in the
Caribbean in 1949 by C.F. Hickling
 To United States in 1954
 Oreochromis aureus introduced in 1957
 Throughout the Americas by 1970
 Oreochromis niloticus into Brazil 1971
 Red strains developed in 1970’s and 80’s
 Oreochromis niloticus spreads in 1990’s
 Total production of 257,000 mt in 2000
Production widely distributed
around the Americas.
Tilapia
introduced to every country
Tilapia, mojarra, St. Peters fish,
Jamaican freshwater snapper,
Cherry Snapper
Used in hundreds of recipes
Live, Whole, fillets, fresh and
frozen, smoked
Supply and Demand
Supply
primarily from tropical
countries
Demand is in producer countries
and US
With rapid increases in supply,
demand must increase at least as
fast to support price.
Major Tilapia Producers in the
Americas (for year 2000)
 Mexico
- 102,000 metric tons/year
 Brazil - 45,000 mt / year
 Cuba - 39,000 mt / year
 Colombia - 23,000 mt / year
 Ecuador - 15,000 mt / year
 Costa Rica - 10,000 mt / year
 USA - 9,072 mt / year
 Honduras - 5,000 mt / year
Production of Tilapia in the
Americas 2000 (by volume)
COSTA RICA COLOMBIA
9%
4%
CUBA
ECUADOR
15%
6%
JAMAICA
3%
US
4%
OTHERS
1%
BRAZIL
17%
HONDURAS
2%
MEXICO
39%
Major Tilapia Products in
International Trade
Costa
Rica - fresh fillets
Ecuador - fresh and frozen fillets
Honduras and Jamaica - fresh and
frozen fillets
Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba
USA - strong domestic demands,
minimal exports
Estimated cost of production
Brazil,
Ecuador, Cuba - $1.10 / kg
Costa Rica, Jamaica - $1.20 / kg
Colombia, Mexico - $1.25 / kg
USA - $2.00 / kg
Canada - $2.10 / kg
International markets
 Costa
Rica was first major exporter
 Ecuador is now major exporter from
the Americas
 Honduras has rapid expansion
 Colombia, Cuba, Brazil and Mexico
are supplying strong domestic markets
 Prices on international markets will not
increase from present levels.
International markets
 Ecuador
has passed Costa Rica as
supplier of fillets to US
 Ecuador integrating with shrimp
production
 Colombia and Mexico were exporters
to US, but exports levels decreased
while production increased
Tilapia production and Markets
in Mexico
Production
in most states of
Mexico
Intensive in north, lake ranching in
south
Strong domestic markets; on ice,
fillets in grocery stores
Will eventually develop export
markets.
Tilapia production & Markets in Brasil
Production
in Southeast and Northeast
Red tilapia in Southeast for fee-fishing
and food
Cage farms allowed in NE reservoirs.
Tilapia leather industry
Jump in interest with ISTA 5 in Rio.
Will eventually develop export markets.
Tilapia in Colombia
Before
1980, Colombia had strong
domestic market
Developed export trade to US
Domestic market has grown so
strong that exports were suspended
Colombia imports tilapia from
Venezuela and Ecuador
Tilapia aquaculture in Colombia
TILAPIA PRODUCTION IN COLOMBIA
25,000
Production (m t)
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
Year
1998
2000
Tilapia production in Ecuador
Replacing
shrimp because of white
spot disease
Using shrimp infrastructure
Exporting to US and EU
Will they revert to shrimp if
disease is controlled?
Tilapia aquaculture in Ecuador
TILAPIA PRODUCTION IN ECUADOR
16,000
14,000
Production (m t)
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
Year
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2000
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
1988
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
1986
Metric tons
US Tilapia consumption (mt)
Source of US Tilapia supply
2000 (by volume)
2000 US Tilapia Supply
HONDURAS US
12%
5%
TAIWAN
28%
INDONESIA
3%
ECUADOR
13%
OTHER
4%
CHINA
24%
JAMAICA
1%
COSTA RICA
10%
US. Tilapia imports 1993-2000
Sources of imported tilapia to US
70000
others
60000
(LWE in metric tons)
Thailand
Indonesia
50000
Colombia
40000
China
Mexico
30000
Jamaica
20000
Ecuador
Costa Rica
10000
Taiwan
0
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Value of tilapia products
imported to U.S.
Figure 2. Value of Tilapia product forms imported to the U.S.
$120,000,000
$100,000,000
$80,000,000
$ US
Whole Frozen
Whole Frozen
Fillet Frozen
$60,000,000
Fillet Fresh
$40,000,000
Fillet Frozen
$20,000,000
Fillet Fresh
$0
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Tilapia Production in the US = Live Sales
International market
changes
Increasing
domestic consumption
in producing countries especially
Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Costa
Rica
Colombia starting to export again,
Mexico and Brazil will follow
Current International Market
Trends
Increase
in demand for all forms of
tilapia
Demand increase will be greatest
for fresh fillets
Prices have been constant for
several years and will remain
stable, will not increase with
inflation.
Current International Market
Trends
US
and EU growers will
concentrate on live sales and
highly processed forms
Latin America and Southeast Asia
will be primary US suppliers
 Latin America, Caribbean and
Africa will supply EU
Marketing - Push vs. Pull
Push
= get distributors to take more
product
Pull = get consumers to demand more
product
 Push = often more expenses with
product, prices and profits lower
Pull = advertising, higher prices and
profits
Marketing - Push
Lower
prices
Advertise in business magazines
Add value to product -processing
Better bulk packaging
Other sales incentives
Marketing - Pull
Advertise
to consumer
Advertise in general interest magazines
Product placement - movies, TV, books
Value adding to product
Better retail packaging
Point of sale recipe cards & promotions
Testimonials
Internet Tilapia Market sites
Internet Tilapia Market sites
www.tilapia.org
Dear Kevin,
 I recently began using Tilapia fillets farm raised by Sea
Best and distributed by Beaver Street Fisheries, Inc. I
buy these in individual vacuum sealed packages in one
pound bags at Wal-Mart in San Marcos, Texas. My
husband has diabetes and we both are very weight
conscious. This fish is the perfect food item for us, I
love the way it is packaged, just use what I need for one
meal, it is reasonably priced, always available in the
market and consistently high quality. I trust you will
forward these comments to the producer.

I

LOVE THE PRODUCT!!!!
Marian Birnie Aug. 12, 2001
Packaging and Delivery
New product forms Push and Pull
Smoked tilapia
Sashimi grade tilapia
Changes and Predictions
Further
intensification in
virtually every country


Production will be 75% Oreochromis niloticus, 20% Red
strains, O. aureus and O. mossambicus mostly for
hybridization
Production will be 50% intensive ponds, 25% cages, 10%
intensive recirculating systems
Changes and Predictions

Further intensification in virtually every country
Production
will be 75%
Oreochromis niloticus, 20%
Red strains, O. aureus and O.
mossambicus mostly for
hybridization

Production will be 50% intensive ponds, 25% cages, 10%
intensive recirculating systems
Changes and Predictions


Further intensification in virtually every country
Production will be 75% Oreochromis niloticus, 20% Red
strains, O. aureus and O. mossambicus mostly for
hybridization
Production
will be 50%
intensive ponds, 25% cages,
10% intensive recirculating
systems
Changes and Predictions
Leather
goods from skin will
become a significant contributor
to profitability

Processing and "value-adding" will intensify in producing
countries

Polyculture with shrimp will become common in most
shrimp farming areas
Changes and Predictions
Processing and "value-adding" will
intensify in producing countries
Changes and Predictions

US production will increase slowly, intensifying current
production methods
Production
in the Americas
will reach 500,000 mt by
2010 and 1,000,000 mt by
2020
Marketing tilapia
 Increasing
demand / markets should begin
in producing country
 Opening new markets will be required in
US
 Plenty of techniques can be used to build
markets
 Many are free or low cost (placement,
samples, live tanks, Web sites)
 Most effective forms require investment