The inhabitants of the landlocked Czech Republic have the lowest fish consumption of any EU Nation – and entrepreneur Jan Hora knew he had a challenge on his hands to persuade his fellow Czechs to eat more fish.
He knew he needed to be able to offer something different, which inspired his variety of fish-based products tailored to appeal to the Czech market. With EU funding behind it, Jan’s innovative company was able to finance its development at various stages. He comes from southern Bohemia, a region known for carp pond farming, and Jan Hora has always been fascinated by fish, setting up Tilapia sro a decade ago, utilising excess heat from his agricultural waste biogas plant.
After experimenting with both tilapia and African catfish, Tilapia sro. decided to farm exclusively catfish due to competition on the market and less demanding farming conditions. In a market that traditionally prefers meat to fish another advantage is, as Jan explained, that ‘catfish meat is almost like veal’ as its meat is firmer and more suitable for further processing.
The farmed fish is processed into a variety of products ranging from fresh fillets to prepared products resembling traditional Czech meat sausages. The products are inspired by the company slogan Let’s teach Czechs to eat fish, a courageous mission in a country with the lowest consumption of fish in the EU of 5-6 kg/capita.
‘We operate according to clients’ demand. The fish is harvested and processed one day before the delivery. In combination with our cold chain and hygiene practices, we deliver top quality product,’ he said.
Tilapia sro. has also cleverly dealt with other constraints in the Czech fish market through its promotional activities. The first being seasonality and traditions around eating fish. In the Czech Republic peak fish consumption is at Christmas when Czechs traditionally eat carp. The company addressed this with innovative marketing throughout the year, with a variety of fish products and species.
For example, carp, a Czech favourite, has a lot of small bones. In response, Tilapia sro. sells the fish using the slogan ‘ryby bez kosti’ (fish without bones) and made this their website address to attract customers.
Competing with traditional meat products is also a challenge for the company. As part of their product development, they have made fish meat products which resemble popular smoked meat products, particularly various kinds of sausages.
Tilapia sro. had to develop other marketing methods when their first experiences selling through supermarket chains were not profitable due to heavy competition from substitute products. They adapted and decided to market directly through inclusion of child-friendly fish products in school lunches, to encourage future generations of fish consumers. The company also opened two shops with EU funding support and expanded distribution to work with 15 partner shops and an internet platform.
The European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF) supported Tilapia sro. at various stages of its development with 16 separate operations. These ranged from financing for farming equipment, processing machines, transportation and furnishing of retail shops.
‘My experience with EMFF procedures is very positive and we shall certainly apply again when further expansion will be considered,’ Jan Hora said.
