Positioning
Estuaries are the main fishing ground for Galician offshore fishing and are very favourably looked on by consumers, who perceive them as an area intimately linked to nature, cuisine and tradition.
The unique features of this environment are a conditioning factor in production, based on a traditional system which only fishes on a small scale, using selective techniques which, contrary to industrial fishing, do not destroy the sea environment and show great care with the product.
Three points which make a difference arise from this, which consumers directly associate with Galician offshore fishing:
Freshness: Traditional fishing is an everyday task, i.e. the products come from daily fishing. This is why the system (also known as Daily fishing or Fresh fishing) contributes in a decisive way to keeping the product fresh, as it is hardly handled before reaching the consumer in the minimum time possible from when it was caught. This is a clear advantage of Galician products in comparison to imported ones, as while the latter has to be handled various times and undergo more or less lengthy storage and transport processes which lead to loss of quality, Galician fishing products find their way to the consumer just a short time after they are caught, maintaining their initial quality practically unaltered.
Taste:This is the main aspect which gives Galician seafood the edge over that imported from Northern Europe or America, which is much more tasteless. The taste of Galician seafood is the taste of the sea: the rough sea, oxygenated, healthy, open to the ocean. Its consistency and texture is excellent: firm, a delicate taste, pleasant to the palate and looking good. This taste is due to both the particular features of the natural environment it comes from, especially the rough waters and low temperatures of the Galician coast, and from the high biodiversity of the Galician coastal ecosystems, which enable a great variety of seafood feeding.
A complete and varied offer: Even though there are other alternatives of similar products coming from different areas, none can compare to the Galician estuaries in variety, quality and prestige. As can be deduced from the above, the products origin is very well considered by consumers. This gives it the critical edge over the rest, as it suggests by itself the excellence that all related products are supposed to have.
Communication
Faced with this reality, the Regional Government Maritime and Fishing Department decided to create a brand and slogan that would meet the following requisites:
Identify products coming from Galician offshore fishing.
Differentiate them from similar products from other areas.
In order to be eligible for the European Union subsidies programme for creating identifying brands for fishing products, the word Galicia could not be used in the brand project. The term estuary or ría, inevitably associated with Galicia, therefore contributes to making the product exclusive and prestigious, differentiating it from those from other areas.
Consumers know that all fish, regardless of where it comes from, is natural and healthy. Nevertheless, they are also aware of the fact that, depending on its origin, the taste changes and, precisely for this reason, they know that even though all fish and seafood comes from the sea, only the one with the best taste (from Galicia) comes from the estuaries. Origin therefore works in this case as a guarantee that certifies the quality of the product for the consumer.