Bream Competing with Salmon for Space in the Freezer

Press release 2022-11-23: Rough fish. Resource fish. Bony fish. This dear child has many names. The common bream, which has traditionally had an undeservedly bad reputation, is now making its return to the Swedish market. Axfoundation, the County Administrative Board of Stockholm and the Swedish Inland Fishermen’s Federation (SIC), together with partners throughout the food chain, are spearheading the initiative concerning underutilized fish. After the successful introduction of minced bream to restaurants, Swedish fish cakes are now finding a home in freezer cabinets.

– Together with our partners, we’ve proven that it’s possible to develop large-scale infrastructure for previously rejected Swedish freshwater fish, as well as deliver good, nutritious, and sustainable solutions, says Veronica Öhrvik, Project Manager for the Underutilized Fish Species project at Axfoundation.

Today, more than 70% of the seafood eaten in Sweden is imported, despite the fact that there are plenty of fish in Swedish lakes. Furthermore, only four species account for as much as 64% of Swedish consumption. It is mainly salmon, shrimp, herring and cod that find their way to Swedish dinner tables, according to recent statistics from the Norwegian Seafood Council.

– It’s crazy that we currently eat so few fish species in Sweden and import such large quantities when there is plenty of variation in Swedish waters, says Öhrvik, who wants to go to bat for bream.

So far, however, carp fish such as bream have not been considered commercially viable. Bream has mainly been a bycatch when fishing for zander, and released back into the water or decomposed for biogas without touching our plates. According to Öhrvik, this is a huge waste of resources:

– By taking advantage of good but underutilized species, it’s possible to contribute to more balanced fishing and, at the same time, increase accessibility to nutritious and sustainable seafood. It can also reduce Sweden’s dependence on imports of fish and shellfish.

Some of the reasons that fish species such as bream have not been made us of previously include weak demand, skepticism about new species, and a lack of infrastructure. To overcome the challenges, Axfoundation, the County Administrative Board of Stockholm and the Swedish Inland Fishermen’s Federation brought together actors at all levels – researchers, food managers, fishermen, wholesalers, and grocery stores – to chart the availability of underutilized fish species in Swedish lakes, evaluate their potential as food products, develop a value chain, and ultimately introduce appealing products to food services and grocery stores. Started back in 2019, the Underutilized Fish Species project has now delivered bream-based minced fish and fish cakes, which were developed at Torsåker gård, Axfoundation’s Center for Future Food.

The conclusions of the project and recommendations for upscaling have now been compiled in the report Bream Instead of Salmon? The report shows, among other things, that Swedish minced bream has a low carbon footprint compared to many other animal protein sources. Only legumes perform equally or better. On the other hand, frozen salmon was found to have three times the carbon footprint.

– One serving of Swedish bream is completely in line with One Planet Plate, which means that the meal has a carbon footprint within the planetary boundaries, and this makes it easy to make the right choices in everyday life, says Öhrvik at Axfoundation.

The minced bream is made from bream from Lake Mälaren and Lake Vänern, which has a green light in the WWF Fish Guide. It is sold through food services by actors such as Martin & Servera and Menigo, and has been given a thumbs-up by chefs as well as schoolchildren. Since November, consumers are able to purchase frozen bream & broad bean fish cakes, which are sold by the grocery retailer Axfood under the Garant brand. The product carries the Från Sverige label, which means that it is caught, processed, and packaged in Sweden.

Sustainability, nutritional content, and flavor form the basis of everything we do, and this also applies to minced bream and fish cakes. Because no matter how sustainable a product is, if it tastes like cardboard, no one will want to buy it anyway, says Linins Mörner, Program Director Future Food at Axfoundation.