There is nothing quite like minced silver smelt, a world-unique prime quality product in high demand—produced at Leirvík’s fish factory Tavan for export to Northern European manufacturers of value-added seafood products.
Ever heard about mince made from prime quality rather than as a byproduct? Well, now you have. We’re talking about the Faroe Islands or, more precisely, one particular fish factory named Tavan, located in Leirvík.
So the Faroe Islands silver smelt fishery—Marine Stewardship Council certified since about a decade ago—is exclusively dedicated to supplying Tavan, the country’s sole facility focused on this species. Indeed, Tavan’s main product since its founding some 30 years ago is minced silver smelt.
Nonetheless, the factory has long offered other products as well, notably cod roe in different variables, as well as chopped and pickled pelagic fish.
Tavan has always had a penchant for developing new products and the origin of the minced silver smelt is no exception to the rule.
“Our research and development efforts early on resulted in the finding that silver smelt had an exceptional quality in minced form,” said operations manager Nicolas Stauss. “We tried initially to process silver smelt in various ways but got the best results from mincing it. As it turned out, minced silver smelt became a hit among Faroese households already back in the mid 1990s. Homemade fish cakes are traditionally very popular here and soon enough people in the Faroes found out that silver smelt was exceptionally good for making fish cakes. The best thing about it is you don’t need to add flour or any other binding agent to give the fish cakes the perfect consistency. Just add your favorite seasoning if you like.”
‘Fingers on pulse’
Before long, overseas industrial buyers began to place orders and the silver smelt product quickly became a success, which has been sustained ever since, with Tavan struggling to meet demand. After all, the annual silver smelt fishery season spans only from April through August.
“Of course we would like to send more shipments of minced silver smelt but our order books are full,” Mr. Stauss noted.
The popularity of the very special minced silver smelt is further put in perspective by the fact that Tavan is likely the world’s only producer of it.
“To be honest, we never thought of minced fish product as anything exclusive although we know better now,” Mr. Stauss said. “Of course we knew from our own experience that this is a top quality product; but it took a while before we discovered that most minced fish available on the market is made as a byproduct, whereas in our case it’s prime quality only. Well, in that regard we intend to stick to our current concept. So our clients can appreciate the fact that we’re able to source prime quality fish to produce mince from—catch landed straight from the fishing vessels to our facility. On top of that, the particular species we source for this purpose is exclusively silver smelt, which has proved superior in this category—rich in nutritional value, tasty, and extremely well suited for mincing. And its white color of makes it even more delicious.”
So you have a well established, MSC-labeled silver smelt fishery in the Faroe Islands that is solely aimed at supplying Tavan, the only producer that has specialized in minced silver smelt.
“As far as I’m aware, we’re the only ones doing it in the entire world,” Mr. Stauss said.
That means manufacturers of value-added seafood products in Northern Europe are provided with a highly advantageous starting point when using minced silver smelt as an ingredient. As for Tavan, their part in the supply chain concludes in the successful shipment of minced silver smelt to retail food manufacturers—from sourcing the raw fish to delivering the finished mince.
Meanwhile, Tavan is also a major provider of roe from cod, ling and saithe—frozen or salted—to top food brands in Scandinavia.
Other products, depending on availability, include chopped pickled herring, whole pickled sprat, and individually quick frozen (IQF) fillets of mackerel.
“We keep our fingers on the pulse and maintain good contact with our clients and our suppliers,” Mr. Stauss added.
“So we know from experience that market conditions change all the time, especially in the seafood business. No season is exactly the same in terms of supply, and of course demand changes and evolves over time. Therefore market and product development plays a very important part. At the same time, it’s obvious that the parameters of constancy—stability, predictability, reliability and so on—remain crucial and key to any longterm success. In that sense, minced silver smelt is a classic and a great example.”
