There are three types of [geographical] market for red porgy:

1. Greece;
2. France & Italy;
3. and Spain situated half way between the two extremes.

On the Greek market, red porgy is perceived very positively. It is considered as a top quality fish, whose image is excellent and whose only weakness is the high price, which can be overcome by obtaining cheaper imported products.

The Spanish market is more difficult to assess, given that red porgy is generally unknown to the consumer (and sometimes to the buyer).

The other two markets are even more difficult to approach as red porgy is generally unknown to the consumer and the taste is not widely appreciated. Logistical prices problems are also said to reduce the product's shelf-life and have a negative impact on both freshness and product colour.

Irregularity of supplies makes it difficult to create a better knowledge among potential consumers.

Competing fish species

Despite the fact that buyers often put red porgy in the same category as sea-bream and sea-bass, since they are similar and cooked in a similar way, red porgy does not have any real competitor. Sea-bream and seabass are mostly farmed, hence:

• bigger volumes
• more regular supplies
• significantly cheaper prices.

If we accept that the fish that our interviewed buyers mistook for red porgy are in fact that fish's nearest competitors, the following chart - drawn up from buyers' responses to the photograph of wild/common red porgy - shows the degree of competition. Only Greek operators unanimously recognised the common, wild red porgy - it is a unique fish, with little direct competition in Greece. The other buyers either did not know what it was or mistook it for a seabream.

Blue spotted sea bream are more recognizable to the interviewees, especially in Spain.

Farmed Red Porgy - Degree of knowledge of buyers

The degree of knowledge by fish buyers of farmed red porgy is very different from one country to the other. Spain is the country where farmed red porgy seems to be almost totally unknown among buyers, closely followed by France. No farmed porgy is sold in these two countries.

Italy, and Greece are the two countries where farmed red porgy is best known:

• some Greek producers also try to sell farmed porgy in Italy and are currently visiting the buyers there.
• The leading Italian retailer follows Italian experiments with the farmed porgy very closely and intends to insert the fish in its product range.
• Greek buyers remember the experiment which was launched a few years ago and which had to be stopped because of the bad results obtained. The colour and taste of the fish did not correspond to consumer requirement. This had a strong impact on the Greek opinion about farmed porgy – which continues to be rather negative.
• There are just a few sales of farmed porgy in Greece, but none elsewhere.

Strengths - Weaknesses -Acceptability

• Spanish operators do not know farmed red porgy enough to express an opinion on strengths and weaknesses.
• Italy is the only country where the advantages are not outweighed by drawbacks, unlike France or Greece.

The Greek retailers – the only ones who already sell some farmed porgy – put a sign on farmed red porgy to indicate its farmed origin. The consumer is ready to buy it as long as the price is lower than that of its wild counterpart.

The French retailers do not believe there is a possibility of selling both wild and farmed, as the price of the farmed fish would have to be too low to be attractive to them or to producers.