For the little hunger in between
Trend topic "Snackification" ensures gastronomic business successes
Germany eats differently. Instead of regular meals, especially at lunchtime and for dinner, Germans are increasingly satisfying their small appetites with snacks and nibbles. "Snackification" is the name of this wave of enjoyment on which fish is floating right to the top - also at fish international at MESSE BREMEN. On the basis of the fish roll, even gastronomic successes can grow and flourish - as the example of this year's Seafood Star winner "Fangfrisch Lübeck" shows. The catering business now has cult status in the Hanseatic city; its founders want to get more ideas in Bremen at Germany's meeting place for the fish industry.
It all started with a holiday on the Bosporus.
When Tristan Wilcken (36) and Constantin Teichert (32) spent a few days in Istanbul with fellow students at the end of their business studies, they came across "Balik-Ekmek" rather by chance. This mackerel sandwich is considered a legend in the border city between Europe and Asia. Fishermen sell it underneath the Galata Bridge directly from their boats. "That's exactly what we wanted to do at home afterwards - sell fish sandwiches directly from the cutter," Wilcken remembers the beginnings. Even though the two founders initially failed due to German bureaucracy, they were eventually able to celebrate success in their hometown of Lübeck - albeit slightly modified: instead of selling fish rolls from the cutter, they first opened a snack bar and then a shop. Their restaurant "Fangfrisch Lübeck", located between the old town and the Kulturwerft Gollan, has long since become a popular all-day meeting place in the Hanseatic city for a snack in between meals or for an evening restaurant stroll.
Regionality is an important aspect
For the "fish roll entrepreneurs" Wilcken and Teichert, a good idea, skill and luck were the ingredients for success. They had almost buried their gastronomy plans in the face of bureaucratic obstacles when they came across the vacant shop that is now their restaurant. They sell fresh fish sandwiches from the snack bar in front of the door, and in the restaurant they serve sailor's bites (salmon pickled at home with harbour grain on honey-mustard-dill sauce) and their freshly caught bowls with a "warm, cheeky mix of regional vegetables and nuts" (according to the text on the menu) as well as new interpretations of classic fish dishes. At lunchtime, the seats in front of the restaurant and the out-of-house sales are populated by tourists and office workers; in the evening, Lübeckers meet in the restaurant for fried plaice or fried turbot fillet with bacon from farmer Schramm. By the way, the pig farmer really does exist in the neighbourhood of the Hanseatic city: "Regionality is an important factor for us," Tristan Wilcken emphasises. This even applies to the shrimp plates. According to its own information, "Fangfrisch Lübeck" is one of the main customers of Förde Garnelen, which farms warm water shrimp in a sustainable recirculation system in Strande near Kiel.
Excellent fish ideas and maritime diversification
Wilcken and Teichert stay out of the day-to-day operations in the restaurant, the snack bar, the food truck and the future catering kitchen: "We'd just mess up the processes there," Wilcken says with a laugh. Instead, the two are developing new concepts and ideas: With "Moinsener" they brought their own light beer onto the market, at cold times of the year they sell "sailor's punch" by the case and at the neighbouring Gollan shipyard they will set up a fish smokehouse. Wilcken and Teichert have just been awarded the Seafood Star for their concept and its implementation. They definitely want to be at the fish international in Bremen in late summer: "There we will certainly find many more ideas for us and perhaps also new partners," Wilcken is convinced.
By tradition, fish plays an important role for the new trend
The small meal in between is the order of the day. And so the "snackification" trend ensures that new enjoyable creations are constantly establishing themselves in the lunch offers of restaurants, in company canteens, in specialised food shops as well as on supermarket shelves. By tradition and due to increasing nutritional awareness, fish plays an important role in this development. "From Bismarck herring to fish'n chips and sushi, fish products have long defined gourmet trends and are now doing the same with snackification," Sabine Wedell, Messe Bremen's project manager for fish international, is convinced.
Sea delicacies have long since come in a modern guise. The innovative range extends from dried and smoked jerky to crisps and wraps to poké bowls and salad creations - and will of course also be on show at fish international in Bremen next September as the most important industry meeting place in Germany. The Norwegian salmon farmer and processor Lerøy, for example, has launched the "new sushi" as a snack for every meal with the "Superfood Poké" from Hawaii. Simple ingredients such as marinated salmon, sesame seeds and finely chopped spring onions combine with four different sauce variations to create a new taste experience. Deutsche See has also long been dedicated to "snackification" and offers a wide range of convenience products for "Lunch 2 go". The Bremerhaven-based company offers quick treats from A like "Arabic bread salad with prawns" to W like "Wanpaku sandwich with smoked salmon".
At fish international, exhibitors set the tone with new product developments
In fact, it is already clear that fish international will live up to its claim of being a trend barometer for the industry. Numerous exhibitors will once again set the tone with new product developments. Just as the fish roll is experiencing a renaissance as a "snack", other classics are also celebrating their return to consumer awareness. Since 2013, Daniel Rietdorf from Hanau has been proving with his selected canned products that canned fish is far more than an emergency reserve or hangover breakfast. The fish international in the coming September offers: Long-standing traditions of the fish industry combined with fresh ideas on trends and new products.
