‘Getting skinned and boned’: Flathead fillets sold for outrageous price at local store
- Replies 6
Aussies are preparing to indulge in their favourite seafood delicacies.
However, the soaring price of flathead fillets has left many consumers reeling.
Last month, a snapshot of a tray of flathead fillets priced at a whopping $79.99/kg at a Harris Farms store in Albury, regional NSW, sparked outrage on social media.
The price tag left many Australians questioning the fairness of the cost, saying they had ‘never seen anything like that price’.
Some also suggested it was 'time to buy a rod and reel' and catch their own fish’.
'Cheaper to fuel up the car, drive down to the coast and catch them yourself,' one person commented.
‘I’d rather eat canned tuna than pay this much for flathead fillets. Surely they got the price wrong.’
Others have expressed their disbelief, suspecting 'something fishy' about the exorbitant prices.
‘Skinned and boned. I’d want it cooked in a reasonable restaurant for that price,’ another added.
‘The customer is the one getting skinned and boned,’ someone replied.
Last year, Seafood Industry Australia Chief Executive Veronica Papacosta, who also serves as the Managing Director of Fish in the Family, which supplies flathead to Harris Farms, stated that seafood ‘prices have not shifted’ in the lead-up to Christmas 2023.
She said the ‘big three’ menu items—prawns, lobsters, and oysters—remained stable during the holiday season.
The price of high-quality Australian prawns was affordable during the Christmas season last month, thanks to an ‘abundance of supply’.
Papacosta said that aquaculture and wild prawns—the country's two main sectors—have had 'fantastic years’.
However, she admitted that flathead prices were a different story.
‘I remember, as a kid in retail, putting $8.99 or $9.99 tickets on flatheads, so to see $80 (per kilo), it is jarring,’ Papacosta, speaking in her capacity as industry CEO, said.
‘But flatheads are a very particular produce. If you look at the way the fillet is cut, people like to eat it boneless and skinless, and in doing that, we only retain about a quarter of the meat.’
Papacosta added that ‘flathead fishery has been contracting for some time’, with the ‘consumer preference’ influencing the prices.
A representative from Manettas Seafood Market, a Sydney-based retailer, confirmed that flathead prices were ‘one of the most fluctuating fish in the market’ due to the limited number of Australian fishers and the high 'wastage level' in preparing fillets.
However, he assured that the $80/kg price tag was an anomaly in an otherwise 'relatively level' fish market.
Papacosta said that flathead prices were not only ‘not seen in the broader fish case’ at the supermarket, but fish prices were not rising ‘at a rate that is accelerating past other proteins’.
Certainly, the cost of meat and seafood went up by 1.8 per cent in the year leading up to October 2023, and dairy products saw a 7.8 per cent increase in the same timeframe, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In that period, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices showed an overall increase of 5.3 per cent, surpassing the total inflation figure of 4.9 per cent.
As of writing, Harris Farms Fresh Flathead Fillets cost $69.99/kg.
The flathead prices at other stores are noticeably lower compared to the Harris Farms fillets.
Woolworths offers Fresh Flathead Fillets Skinned & Boned for $48/kg, while Coles sells Birds Eye Frozen South Atlantic Flathead Crisp Light Batter Fillets for $40/kg.
Market fishmongers' prices start from $16.95/kg for Wild-Caught Flathead Fillets via fishme.com.au, and Manettas Seafood Markets sells Large Flathead Fish for $29 per fish or Bulk Buy Flathead Fillets for $49/kg.
Papacosta downplayed the concerns about the $80 price tag for flathead at Harris Farms.
‘Most people would see prices have been relatively stable. I think there’s been a lot more impact on other proteins,’ she said.
‘I think people appreciate the value of producing and going out into the ocean and catching fish.’
‘I think they will see this is an outlier, and most of the broader fish range is quite stable—compared to movement in things like beef and other protein.’
She said it was ‘sad’ because it was a popular fish, and buying flathead fillets may hurt the pockets of some consumers.
However, she added that people who want the fish will buy it at whatever cost.
‘People who buy it insist on it. But there are other options that can do what they need it to do in the recipe or on the plate,’ she said.
‘That’s the biggest strength in seafood, it’s not just getting a different cut of meat, but a different species entirely.’
Do you buy flathead fish fillets? Do you think the prices at the market were reasonable? Let us know in the comments below!
However, the soaring price of flathead fillets has left many consumers reeling.
Last month, a snapshot of a tray of flathead fillets priced at a whopping $79.99/kg at a Harris Farms store in Albury, regional NSW, sparked outrage on social media.
The price tag left many Australians questioning the fairness of the cost, saying they had ‘never seen anything like that price’.
Shoppers were shocked at the price of flathead fillets in Harris Farms. Credit: @dingo_dollar / Reddit
Some also suggested it was 'time to buy a rod and reel' and catch their own fish’.
'Cheaper to fuel up the car, drive down to the coast and catch them yourself,' one person commented.
‘I’d rather eat canned tuna than pay this much for flathead fillets. Surely they got the price wrong.’
Others have expressed their disbelief, suspecting 'something fishy' about the exorbitant prices.
‘Skinned and boned. I’d want it cooked in a reasonable restaurant for that price,’ another added.
‘The customer is the one getting skinned and boned,’ someone replied.
Last year, Seafood Industry Australia Chief Executive Veronica Papacosta, who also serves as the Managing Director of Fish in the Family, which supplies flathead to Harris Farms, stated that seafood ‘prices have not shifted’ in the lead-up to Christmas 2023.
She said the ‘big three’ menu items—prawns, lobsters, and oysters—remained stable during the holiday season.
The price of high-quality Australian prawns was affordable during the Christmas season last month, thanks to an ‘abundance of supply’.
Papacosta said that aquaculture and wild prawns—the country's two main sectors—have had 'fantastic years’.
However, she admitted that flathead prices were a different story.
‘I remember, as a kid in retail, putting $8.99 or $9.99 tickets on flatheads, so to see $80 (per kilo), it is jarring,’ Papacosta, speaking in her capacity as industry CEO, said.
‘But flatheads are a very particular produce. If you look at the way the fillet is cut, people like to eat it boneless and skinless, and in doing that, we only retain about a quarter of the meat.’
Papacosta added that ‘flathead fishery has been contracting for some time’, with the ‘consumer preference’ influencing the prices.
A representative from Manettas Seafood Market, a Sydney-based retailer, confirmed that flathead prices were ‘one of the most fluctuating fish in the market’ due to the limited number of Australian fishers and the high 'wastage level' in preparing fillets.
However, he assured that the $80/kg price tag was an anomaly in an otherwise 'relatively level' fish market.
Papacosta said that flathead prices were not only ‘not seen in the broader fish case’ at the supermarket, but fish prices were not rising ‘at a rate that is accelerating past other proteins’.
Certainly, the cost of meat and seafood went up by 1.8 per cent in the year leading up to October 2023, and dairy products saw a 7.8 per cent increase in the same timeframe, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In that period, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices showed an overall increase of 5.3 per cent, surpassing the total inflation figure of 4.9 per cent.
As of writing, Harris Farms Fresh Flathead Fillets cost $69.99/kg.
The flathead prices at other stores are noticeably lower compared to the Harris Farms fillets.
Woolworths offers Fresh Flathead Fillets Skinned & Boned for $48/kg, while Coles sells Birds Eye Frozen South Atlantic Flathead Crisp Light Batter Fillets for $40/kg.
Market fishmongers' prices start from $16.95/kg for Wild-Caught Flathead Fillets via fishme.com.au, and Manettas Seafood Markets sells Large Flathead Fish for $29 per fish or Bulk Buy Flathead Fillets for $49/kg.
Prices of flathead fish fillets vary in different stores. Credit: Manettas Seafood Markets
Papacosta downplayed the concerns about the $80 price tag for flathead at Harris Farms.
‘Most people would see prices have been relatively stable. I think there’s been a lot more impact on other proteins,’ she said.
‘I think people appreciate the value of producing and going out into the ocean and catching fish.’
‘I think they will see this is an outlier, and most of the broader fish range is quite stable—compared to movement in things like beef and other protein.’
She said it was ‘sad’ because it was a popular fish, and buying flathead fillets may hurt the pockets of some consumers.
However, she added that people who want the fish will buy it at whatever cost.
‘People who buy it insist on it. But there are other options that can do what they need it to do in the recipe or on the plate,’ she said.
‘That’s the biggest strength in seafood, it’s not just getting a different cut of meat, but a different species entirely.’
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