Pricing dilemma for canners as pack 25% larger than last year's Multipack route beckons Opening prices for new season Alaskan Salmon are expected shortly now that the extent of the Canadian pack is known and product is making its way down to Seattle terminals for grading. Most of the speculation has been on red prices, but with a large pack of pinks a real dilemma faces the canners. They need to reduce prices considerably to move the pack which is 25% more than last year's. Fortunately they have a far wider market for pinks than reds, but careful thought will have to be given to pricing to ensure movement of stock. Even though packers were able to get the raw fish price down to its lowest level ever, 15 cents a lb, production and other costs have risen sharply so f.o.b. levels may not drop as much as UK buyers would like. The ideal promotional price would be 49p for a 213g can but early indications are that opening prices will be higher and some promotional funding will be required. One importer told The Grocer: "We will try the multipack route which proved so popular with tuna. After all we need to sell a lot of pink salmon and price alone is not the answer." The US government will shortly be announcing its annual military tender for 418g pinks which will take a substantial quantity off the market. So packers will probably wait to see what impact the tender will have before announcing opening prices. Rumours that the tender will stipulate inclusion of last year's pack may eliminate some packers who have no carry over stock from the tender. {{M/E CANNED GOODS }}

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