Produced in Ireland V Produce of Ireland

[JimH]

https://twitter.com/Jimhendrick/status/ ... 5014296577

[Tanglerat]

The ****? Has someone started farming bass in Ireland? Has someone imported the farmed bass, sliced off the filets, packaged them for sale and called them "produced in Ireland"?

[JimH]

T
Its probably not feasible to farm bass in Ireland (growth rate) !! but I stand to be corrected on this -
Its most likely the fillets are imported hence my request for confirmation of source of fish, reply pending from purchasing department

What got to me was the page in the brochure and how its perceived by the general public, have a look if you have a chance at a masterclass in subliminal perception, some might say deception!

I have asked and will continue to pursue Lidl for requests to carry a more definitive message on packaging regarding the unique status of bass in this country to inform the public correctly.

[chuckaroo]

Defo not farmed in Ireland. Defo most likely imported farmed fish from the Mediterranean and prepared ("produced") in Ireland ..as tanglerat suggests. What a con. On the limit of trading standards protocol surely. Fishy
http://www.rte.ie/tv/theconsumershow/statmentseps7.html
I wonder if it 'states the origin of the fish' on the packet?
Good luck with Lidl, Jim

[Tanglerat]

I've emailed their Customer Services, let's see how they respond. I was kinda "shirty" with them...

[chuckaroo]

let's see how they respond

i'll be amazed if they do!
good effort though

[Paul Harris]

Supavalu are experts at this kind of deception. Last year they had a side of smoked salmon which was called something like Carikreel or similar and was packaged in a very Irish way with the odd shamrock, Produced in Ireland etc.
In VERY tiny print at the back was the information that the salmon had been imported from Chile and so I presume just packaged and possibly smoked in Ireland.

[Tanglerat]

No reply as yet..... Good job for them I'm busy as a bee at work right now or I'd be thinking of escalation.....

[beachbuddy]

Supavalu are experts at this kind of deception. Last year they had a side of smoked salmon which was called something like Carikreel or similar and was packaged in a very Irish way with the odd shamrock, Produced in Ireland etc.
In VERY tiny print at the back was the information that the salmon had been imported from Chile and so I presume just packaged and possibly smoked in Ireland.

Fair and very valid point Paul and shame on supervalu for using such sneaky marketing ploys but in this particular case its bass that are been marketed as been produced in Ireland which is blatant lies as selling of any bass in Ireland is illegal unless the fish are brought in from abroad as been farmed.
But sure at this stage nothing would surprise me in this little country of ours.

[Tanglerat]

Dear Mr. "Tanglerat",
The product is "Produced in Ireland" as per the logo on the pack. The Sea Bass itself is of European origin, so the country of origin may vary depending on numerous factors such as availability, volumes etc etc. but it is sourced from reputable suppliers within EU member states. The product undergoes processing steps in Ireland thereby enabling us to use the "Produced in Ireland" logo on pack.
Regards, Emer

Customer Services Dept

That's not good enough, is it?

[Tanglerat]

Dear Emer,


Since we're going to use first names, please feel free to call me "Tanglerat".


It's simply not good enough to present a protected species - a species protected by Irish law from commercial killing - as somehow being "produced" in Ireland. You are being deliberately ambiguous in your marketing.


Irish Recreational Sea Anglers have fought long and hard, first to gain protection for Irish Bass and latterly to maintain that protection from lobbying by commercial fish killers, to find your marketing of this farmed product acceptable. Your actions serve to bolster the arguments by commercial fisher interests that it is legitimate to fish for and kill Irish Bass.


We do not, and we never will, accept your presentation of EU farmed Bass as being somehow legitimate Irish Bass.


Regards,

Tanglerat.

[luanaigh]

I have asked Lidl for an answer too.

[JimH]

Honesty, clarity and integrity in relation to awareness of conservation needs at times to be integrated into supply chains - clearly this is not the case here!

I have always felt that leveraging opportunities similar to this in order to develop a possibility of change and responsibility might be where we could start a change (as anglers) to both the message and the industry, not only in relation to bass mind!

What would the impact be if anglers decided to stop shopping in places where messages like this prevailed.

Nice work guys

[Tanglerat]

[quote="JimH"]What would the impact be if anglers decided to stop shopping in places where messages like this prevailed./quote]

Dunno Jim.

I wonder what will Emer's reaction be, or even Emer's bosses, when I send them a scan of my next big monthly shop's receipt from Aldi, explaining that I used to spend that every month in Lidi till they annoyed me so much with their false Bassing antics.....

Y'know, we could all send them a scan of our next big shop in Dunne's Stores, or Tesco, or Asda, or Aldi, come to think of it.

[JimH]

And this is one of many ways how we could change the game, or at least try to.

We can ask Lidl to acknowledge the socio/economic and conservation status of sea bass on their labeling hence their buyers purchased farmed bass from a reputable source/s to maintain recreational benefits of bass fishing in this country - they have a responsibility to other stake holders.

[jd]

You really have to read the label carefully when buying your food in any of the supermarkets. A minimal amount of "processing" allows them to slap the "Produced in Ireland" logo on your meat/veg/fish.
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/wo ... di.136401/

[Danny M.]

My comparison here may be wide of the mark, but I will throw it out there anyway as a possible explanation. In manufacturing it is common practice to label a product with the 'Country Of Origin' as the Country where the most 'value add' is added so to speak.

Maybe, the whole fish is farmed cheap overseas somewhere, then the fish is sent to Ireland for processing and labeling/packaging and this part of the process adds the most value, hence the misleading label on the packaging?

Anyway, I hope that is the case, Bass are few and far between with more exploitation here in our local waters.

[JimC]

Whas in Lidl the other day....

It is not so misleading in the shop:

[JimH]

Agree Jim, I went and bought a pack for clarification last Tuesday evening. The photo at the top was made of the brochure I found in last Saturday's Irish Times.

Based on that and the lack of info in the brochure, I felt people could be consciously making decisions and perceptions as to the source of the fish without the clarity and definition seen in your photo of the shop product.

[JimC]

Indeed Jim. I've no doubt that was the idea of the brochure shot.

While I was there I actually bought a piece of hake. 250g for €2.00. I said the dog would have it if it wasn't nice. It was beautiful, stunning even. At €8 per kg! What does the trawler man get?
I read somewhere that there was lots of hake being caught. Obviously the price has collapsed.