News from the Calant Xarxes Alliance

The Calant Xarxes alliance and fishermen from the three fishermen’s guilds of Menorca meet to jointly identify initiatives to strengthen the marketing and traceability of fish on Menorca

On Saturday 9th March the Calant Xarxes alliance held the workshop “Development of collective brands for Balearic seafood products” at the Es Mercadal Municipal Library, with the aim of generating a space for the exchange of experiences among fishermen in Menorca and to provide first-hand knowledge of other initiatives being carried out in Ibiza, Formentera and Mallorca.

The event was attended by Domingo Bonnin, President of the Balearic Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds and Xavi Marqués, skipper of the Ciutadella guild and Vice President of the Balearic Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds, who brought together fishermen and secretaries of the guilds of Maó, Fornells and Ciutadella, stressing that “it is worthwhile to set it up to raise awareness of the local product and differentiate it from that which comes from outside with regard to the end consumer and/or restaurants”: “It is worthwhile to set it up in order to publicise the local product and differentiate it from that which comes from abroad in the eyes of the end consumer and/or restaurants”.

Marga Serra, secretary of the Ibiza fishermen’s guild, and Marcial Caracena, commercial director of OPmallorcaMar, also took part in the workshop as speakers. They shared their work in the development of collective brands for seafood products in Ibiza and Mallorca, with the aim of exploring marketing alternatives that allow Menorca’s seafood products to be valued and strengthen the promotion of those restaurants that are committed to their commercialisation.

On the one hand, Marcial Caracena, commercial director of OPmallorcaMar explained the example of the development of the Millorquin brand, detailing the certification requirements for both restaurants and fishing boats in Mallorca. Marcial underlined that “the Millorquin brand has made it possible to highlight the value of fish caught by Mallorcan boats that guarantee responsible and traceable fishing all the way to the end consumer. Thanks to our collaboration with the Calant Xarxes alliance, we have developed a joint action plan to unite all the actors, boats, fishmongers, restaurants, etc. in a project capable of making the supply of sustainable, traceable, zero-kilometre seafood products visible”.

For her part, Marga Serra, secretary of the Ibiza Fishermen’s Guild, shared with the attendees the main challenges and advantages in the development of the Peix Nostrum brand, stressing that: “the collective brand helps to revalue and differentiate the local product”. Individual identification is not only a way of guaranteeing traceability, but it can also be used as a quality mark, in our case including the “Sabors d’Eivissa” seal of the Island Council, which favours demand for the identified product”.

Finally, Elisa Martínez, coordinator of the Calant Xarxes Alliance, presented the members of the alliance, its objectives and main lines of action, highlighting that: “This workshop is the first workshop organised by the Calant Xarxes Alliance, which was a space where we were able to get to know each other, share best practices between fishermen and secretaries of the guilds of the islands, identify needs, share experiences and seek ways of collaboration to move towards improvements in sustainability and marketing of Balearic seafood products where collective labels, traceability systems and other forms of differentiation of the products of the Balearic Islands, traceability systems and other forms of differentiation of sustainable fish products can create value for their marketing in hotels and restaurants, considering the existence of increasingly aware consumers, who demand quality, traceable and environmentally friendly products”.