Lidl Frozen Salmon

glensmen

Lidl sell two types of frozen salmon.

Wild pink salmon fillets, £1.59
Farmed pink salmon fillets, £2.39 (I think)

Both are the same weight (250g), both are skinless and boneless, while the wild ones are MSC certified and have much lower levels of fat etc. I'm confused as to why anybody would buy the more expensive ones, when the cheaper ones seem preferable in terms of just about everything - taste, price, ethics, nutritional value....am I missing something obvious?!

peewhyeff

Intriguing, I'd like to know too. Not tried either but easily tempted.

[Deleted User]

Have you emailed Lidl ?

Also curious as the Wild seems to be the healthier choice for humans(Salmon may have a different viewpoint)

jenniewb

Country of origin? Is it a seasonal thing? (eg will they both be the same price when the seasons change) Different colours? (some will add pink or red colouring to make them look brighter and this can attract customers and hype up the cost).


Or it could be a genuine mistake on Lidl's part- maybe they got the prices round the wrong way on their systems and meant to charge more for the wild salmon (if so, you may want to think about the consequences of emailing Lidl!)

jfdi

They've been priced like that for ages, well over a year, coz I noticed it too.

Would be interested if any can work out / find out the reason!

dlusman

The wild stuff comes via Poland , the farmed ones from Norway/Faroe Islands so I would assume the labour costs for the wild ones are a lot less.

By describing them as "wild" they want to conjure up an image of a little old man on a grassy bank with a rod & line. In reality they will be from large factory trawlers , so costs of catching the fish will also probably be less than farming - once you factor in all the breeding,daily feeding & monitoring associated with farming

Haffiana

Does the packaging give the salmon species? Most cheap wild salmon is keta (also called dog or chum salmon) oncorhynchus keta which is a rather dry, inferior salmon, not at all prized for its flavour.

I am no fan of farmed salmon at all but it is a bit of a poser which I would buy, keta or the better flavoured farmed Atlantic salmon, salmo salar. If I was going to serve the salmon in a fishcake, stew, soup or curry then keta would be fine, with the added benefit of being wild. Otherwise, and especially if I was serving it at a dinner party, the farmed would taste much, much nicer!

missbiggles1

I'd pay the extra and buy fresh - IME, frozen salmon can be very dry.

However, if you are buying it, I don't understand why people think that the one with the lower fat content is the healthier one when one of the main reasons for eating salmon is that it's an oily fish.

glensmen

Haffiana wrote: »

Does the packaging give the salmon species? Most cheap wild salmon is keta (also called dog or chum salmon) oncorhynchus keta which is a rather dry, inferior salmon, not at all prized for its flavour.

I am no fan of farmed salmon at all but it is a bit of a poser which I would buy, keta or the better flavoured farmed Atlantic salmon, salmo salar. If I was going to serve the salmon in a fishcake, stew, soup or curry then keta would be fine, with the added benefit of being wild. Otherwise, and especially if I was serving it at a dinner party, the farmed would taste much, much nicer!

Thanks, that's interesting - the wild one is listed as oncorhynchus gorbuscha in this instance.

As you say, it depends entirely on what you're using it for - I'm usually having it in a sauce, and haven't had a problem with dryness or flavour.

MysteryMe

The Keta salmon I buy from Waitrose in their 3 for £10 offer is fine. I like the taste. I don't find it dry either, salmon takes very little cooking.