The week in which the most fish is sold has started: look at options and prices

begins the Tourism Week and, as is traditional, expect a high consumption of fish what’s wrong with it expectant and optimistic sellers for the next few days, which represent the days with the greatest demand for this product. This year the fish is sold at prices similar to those registered in 2022, as well as with a varied and high-quality offer.

According to a survey carried out on Monday by The Observermerchants understand that once the health emergency due to the covid-19 pandemic has been overcome – and without travel restrictions – there will be fewer people in the capital and this will be accentuated as Tourism Week progresses, for which they estimate they will have fewer customers than in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

On the other hand, however, they said that this year two religious celebrations will coincide for which the consumption of fish meat increases, something positive for the volume of sales: Good Friday in Christianity and Pesaj in the Jewish community.

The week in which the most fish is sold has started: look at options and prices

John Samuelle

Post The Italian.

John Samuelle

Variety of seafood.

Natalia, who works at the El Italiano stand, mentioned that one of the stars this year is the whole black croaker, which can be cooked on the grill or in the oven, with a price of $180 per kilo. He explained that with a piece of 10 kilos they eat -accompanied by some salad- about 10 people.

In a week like the one that has just begun, the sale is multiplied “by two or three”, affirmed Natalia, who highlighted as something positive that this year the members of the Jewish community join the usual high demand on Good Friday. “They bring fish to be ground or already ground, of three different species and fish with scales, not skin, they make something like our meatballs,” she explained.

He added that “these days” you see “regular customers” who have “the good habit of including fish in their meals”, but also those who appear “only in each Tourism Week”.

In each stall they indicated that they are supplied with artisanal fishing, from external or their own boats (industrial fishing), as well as with imported products, highlighting that the variety of national producers and those from different markets is something very good for people to choose from, with cheaper options and others with higher values, even above $1,000 per kilo.

Lourdes, in Los Delfines, pointed out that This year’s prices are the same as they were a month ago. “They did not rise for this week,” she said, adding that they are at levels “very similar” to those they were a year ago..

The expectations for sales are “very good,” he said.

John Samuelle

Post The Oysters.

John Samuelle

Some of the prices

empanadas

A classic in the area of the port of Buceo, in each Tourism Week, is the offer of Galician empanadas, mussels or fish with olives, among others. The offer is two empanadas and a soft drink for $310.

This Monday, in that area of the capital, they were setting up stalls for a gastronomic fair and the places with a presence all year round were getting ready, with better infrastructure and more merchandise, to serve a larger clientele.

the mix

A seafood mix, which is offered in various locations for $450 per kilo and allows for four servings, normally contains squid rings, mussels, cockles, shrimp, octopus and scallops. But the combinations are many and in one of the stalls there were at least a dozen ingredients to consider.

John Samuelle

Imported product, from Spain.

Antonella, at the Las Ostras stand, said that it is still difficult to know what sales will be like this year, since this will be seen as activity increases: from Wednesday afternoon to Friday afternoon.

“There are people who have already bought, who do it with time, others come more at the last moment, there is everything”he commented.

The vendors agreed on another reality: during the covid-19 health emergency, without the possibility of traveling abroad and with limited mobility within the country, fish sales during Tourism Week rose notably. That, they said, will be missed more and more.

John Samuelle

Post Altamar.

John Samuelle

Catfish, national product.

Two realities at fairs

Gustavo, who called his stall at fairs “El pescadito feliz”, sells in Pocitos and Carrasco, but based on what he knows about the market and from contacts with fellow marketers, he pointed out a curious fact: during this weekwith so much tourist movement, in the coastal neighborhoods of the capital the sale falls between 20% and 40% because many people leave the capital.

At the same time, in neighborhoods “from 8 de Octubre avenue to the other side”, multiply by fourcounted.

He also said that “in the interior the sale of fish rises a lot, there is more tradition and there are also all the people who go from Montevideo to different cities during these days”.

Post “The happy fish”, in fairs.

At the fair, as an example, he mentioned that there are high-quality national products at the following prices: black sea bass $180, sole $650, brotola $550, whiting $390 and hake $420, always per kilo. Of what was imported, he pointed out the Chilean salmon, at about $1,000 per kilo.

He recommended Uruguayan shrimp, from Valizas, for $600 per kilo, because it was in the middle of the harvest..

Post “The happy fish”, in fairs.

How much do Uruguayans eat?

Although there is no official data, fish vendors consulted by The Observer estimate that the consumption of this food in Uruguay is low, no more than 10 kilos per capita per year, which they consider to be less than ideal considering its nutritional quality and the variety of products, based on the wealth of sources of fishing in the national territory. To compare, from the National Meat Institute (INAC) it was reported that in the last measured year per capita consumption per year was 46 kg of beef; 23.7 kg of poultry meat; 19.3 kg of pork meat; and 2.2 kg of sheep meat.