Redclaw Markets

Issues

The Redclaw industry is faced with several marketing challenges.

Typical of most fledgling industries, very little promotion has been undertaken, thus consumer awareness both domestically and overseas is relatively low.

The industry is composed of a great number of small enterprises making the marketing quite fragmented. Recently, localised marketing groups have emerged consisting of several cooperative growers with common purpose. They have established quality standards, brand names and promotional material to more effectively market their collective production in a coordinated manner.

Size

In Australia Redclaw are commonly marketed in 20 g size grades ranging from 30-50 g (at approximately AUD11.50/kg) to greater than 120 g (at approximately AUD19.00/kg). The smaller grades are commonly used in buffet style presentations, with the larger animals featuring in a-la-carte restaurants, both as entree and main course dishes.

Export opportunities have been identified through considerable market research. However, sales to date have been limited by the small production volume and therefore the risk of inconsistent supply.

At present 50 percent of redclaw are sold within Queensland, 45 percent interstate and 5 percent are exported.

Marketing Chain

There are three steps in the marketing chain; producer, wholesaler and restaurateur. There is effectively no retail sale of the raw product. While selling direct to restaurants may result in slightly higher prices paid, the practise can have a limiting effect on market growth. A good wholesaler can increase the market penetration of Redclaw by cross-selling while servicing customers from their existing product lists. Farm-gate sales are substantial, however, the volumes are likely to decrease as more coordinated marketing through wholesalers develops. Wholesalers have tended to position Redclaw on the price scale lower than marine lobsters but higher than prawns.

Competing Products

Generally they are marketed alongside Moreton Bay bugs and small champagne lobsters or scampi. A clear marketing attribute for redclaw is its reputation as a product from clean water, free of medical or chemical additives. Product is purged prior to sale and is often held in saltwater which improves the flavour and its attractiveness to Asian markets.

Redclaw are largely sold as a live product, although some processing, particularly cooking and freezing is undertaken. Fresh redclaw have a smooth lustrous shell, deep blue to green in colour, with males exhibiting a bright red colouring on the margins of their large claws. Cooked, they present as bright red, typical of premium crustaceans.

 Information courtesy of the QLD Department of PRimary Industries and Fisheries