When it comes to anchovies, you either love or hate them.
They have a reputation for having a fishy or salty flavor when eaten on their own.
However, they also provide a base for making some incredible dishes.
If you’re a fan of anchovies, you may have noticed that they’ve become more expensive.
You may wonder what has happened to cause a price increase.
Why Are Anchovies So Expensive? (10 Reasons)
An average tin of anchovies costs around $3.
However, some jars can cost around $30 or more.
Certain factors like the various industries using anchovies, climate change, and where the anchovies come from can all play a role in its price.
Let’s look at these factors in more detail.
1. Fish Oil
Anchovies have often been overlooked when it came to seafood.
Because of their rather strong flavor, not everyone enjoys eating them.
As such, anchovies tended to go towards other aspects of the economy.
When the health benefits of fish oil started to enter the mainstream, however, anchovies suddenly became a lot more popular.
Fish oil contains Omega-3 fatty acids.
This particular molecule has quite a few health benefits.
In particular, it can help reduce heart disease.
It helps reduce high blood pressure.
Along with reducing high blood pressure, Omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce cholesterol.
Clearly, fish oil can be beneficial to your health.
The great thing about anchovies is that they’re very oily fish.
They’re able to produce a good amount of fish oil that manufacturers can then sell.
Suddenly, anchovies became far more popular.
However, this means that there were fewer anchovies available to make it a grocery store.
Because there’s a greater demand for anchovies due to their oil, it’s more expensive to source anchovies.
Anchovies are expensive because they’re in high demand for their oil.
2. Bigger Fishing Farms
Because there have been more restrictions on fishing in the ocean, some fishermen have started up fishing farms.
They grow all the fish they need in large tanks of water.
It makes fishing a bit less expensive since they no longer have to take care of large fishing vessels.
It also reduces the chances of overfishing the oceans.
The problem with fishing farms is that they need to bring in food for their fish.
Most fishing farms raise fish species that are commonly served in restaurants or found at the grocery store.
Salmon, for example, is a common type of fish that people eat.
Since it’s so popular, there are plenty of fishing farms that raise salmon.
One of the primary foods that farmers feed salmon is anchovies.
Fishing farms have started to expand.
That means more fish, but it also means the fish need more food.
With more anchovies going to salmon farms, it means there are fewer to make it into tins and jars.
That means anchovy companies that sell food products are paying more for their anchovies.
Since their costs are rising, they’re selling at higher prices.
Anchovies are expensive because the demand for them is greater at larger fishing farms.
3. Best Anchovies Come From Peru
While anchovies exist throughout the ocean, arguably, some of the best come from Peru.
The particular types of anchovies that call the waters around Peru their home have high concentrations of fish oil.
A large portion of the fish caught in that area end up becoming fish oil.
Others end up becoming fish feed for livestock and salmon.
This leaves very few anchovies available for human consumption.
However, those who eat anchovies for their fish oil and health benefits will likely prefer to eat those that come from Peru.
If that’s the case, they’re going to face expensive prices.
Since the anchovies that come from Peru are scarcer, people are going to have to pay more to eat them.
Any time demand outpaces supply means the price is going to increase.
While you can eat anchovies from different places, those that come from Peru are among the most expensive.
Anchovies are expensive when they come from Peru.
4. Quotas On Anchovy Fishing
The shortage of anchovies isn’t eased when there are fishing quotas put in place.
Peru, in particular, has a quota on how many anchovies fishermen can remove from the sea each year.
Quotas exist to ensure anchovies don’t become overfished.
It’s a problem affecting other species of fish.
Those who don’t have protection, for example, are at risk of fishermen fishing so many out of the sea that they don’t have a large enough population to repopulate.
Some fish don’t reproduce as quickly or as much as they need to meet the demand for them.
As such, their numbers diminish more and more each year.
Eventually, there may not be any fish anymore.
Peru, since it has a particular type of anchovy that contains a lot of oil, wants to ensure this doesn’t happen to them.
They limit how many fishermen can catch.
A few other countries likely do the same.
Since some anchovies face restrictions, it means certain brands have a limited supply that they can sell.
Because they still need to offset their own costs, they need to make as much money as they can with a limited supply of products available.
That means they need to sell at high prices.
Anchovies are expensive because some places put restrictions on the number of fish fishermen can catch.
5. Demand For Organic Fertilizer
It isn’t just salmon and fish that use up anchovies either.
There’s been a lot of demand for organic fertilizer over synthetic fertilizer.
For example, farmers who are growing organic crops can’t use synthetic fertilizers.
They have to rely on natural means of fertilizing their fields.
Fish is one of the primary ingredients in making organic fertilizer.
Because of their high dose of fish oil, anchovies tend to be a natural choice.
It provides a great base for making organic fertilizer.
As more farms start turning to organic crops, it means the demand for organic fertilizer is also on the rise.
With only so many anchovies in the market, it usually means there are fewer anchovies available for human consumption.
Anchovy companies are facing higher costs when sourcing their anchovies because there’s more demand for them.
Since they’re paying higher prices for their anchovies, they’re going to sell their anchovies at higher prices.
Anchovies are expensive because they’re particularly useful in making organic fertilizer which has increased their demand even more.
6. Livestock Feed
Anchovies aren’t just feeding crops and other fish either.
They’re also feeding livestock.
Because of their oil content, some farmers buy fish feed which they then give to their livestock.
Anchovies become fish feed after they’re grounded up.
A few other ingredients might become mixed into the batch, but anchovies often make the base.
Farmers then feed the fish feed to their cattle, chickens, and other animals.
It makes a great type of feed because of its Omega-3 fatty acid content.
It can help keep their livestock healthy.
In return, it makes consumers healthy when they eat the animal later.
As the saying goes, you are what you eat.
If the animal you’re eating received great nutrition, you’re able to benefit from that nutrition, too.
However, the problem with a large portion of anchovies going towards fish feed is that this impacts the amount available for human consumption.
If more farmers start to use fish feed, they’re going to buy even more.
That means more anchovies will go towards becoming fish feed rather than for human consumption.
Since sourcing anchovies for human consumption is more expensive, the companies have to charge more.
Anchovies are expensive because they’re becoming popular as fish feed for livestock.
7. Short Fishing Season
Depending on the species of anchovy, each one tends to have its own season in which there are plenty of anchovies.
For most species, their fishing season is between April and June.
That’s when anchovies start to come closer to the shores.
This is a relatively short window in which to fish.
While you might still be able to harvest anchovies outside of those months, that’s the window in which you’re sure to catch a large load.
Because of the small window, it means some fishermen may not come away with a big haul.
They only have a short time to do so.
If they experience any problems or delays, that further impacts how much they’re able to bring in.
This makes anchovies expensive because it impacts how much supply brands are able to get their hands on.
If fishermen aren’t able to catch that much during those months, the supply of anchovies is going to be low while the price is high.
This is unlike other animals where they’re relatively available all year.
Cattle and pigs, for example, are sourceable throughout the year.
Since there’s a steady supply, the price tends to be lower.
Anchovies are only readily available for a few months each year.
They’re expensive because their supply isn’t always guaranteed.
8. Premium Canned Anchovies
Some canned anchovy brands sell premium anchovy products.
They’re typically the ones who have been in the business for decades or even centuries.
These brands sell premium canned anchovies because they do the entire process by hand.
They’ll fish their own anchovies, prepare them, can them.
They don’t rely on machines or anything else to can their anchovies.
Since it’s all done by hand, it means their labor costs tend to be on the more expensive side.
It also usually means that they put a lot of care and work into each of their products.
As a result, you’re usually able to receive an experience that you can’t get anywhere else.
However, premium products come at premium prices.
Anchovies are expensive when they’re from a premium brand.
9. Canning Process Can Take A Long Time
The best canned anchovies usually come from brands that understand how to cure their fish.
Canning anchovies isn’t as simple as slathering them with some ingredients and putting them in a can.
There are a few steps involved.
One of those steps is curing.
One of the perks of canned anchovies is that they can last for a long time.
Its long lifespan is due to the curing process.
Each brand has its preferred curing time.
The shorter the curing time, the better product tends to be.
However, short is still a long time.
It can take an anchovy anywhere from three months to a full year to finish the curing process.
As such, anchovy brands spend a lot of time waiting for their product to be ready to sell.
To ensure the wait is worth it, they sell at high prices.
Anchovies are expensive because they have long curing times.
10. Warmer Water Temperatures
A final reason anchovies are expensive is warmer water temperatures.
Climate change is certainly to blame for warmer ocean temperatures, but the ocean goes through cycles of cool and warm temperatures as well.
Anchovies do not perform well in warm water.
If climate change continues to increase the temperature of the ocean, anchovy populations might start to drop.
That further impacts the population of anchovies available for human consumption.
With less supply available, anchovy brands have to pay more to make their canned products.
Anchovies are expensive because warmer ocean temperatures are starting to impact their populations.
Conclusion
Anchovies are popular for their oil content.
Because it has many uses in different fields and industries, its supply isn’t always readily available.
As such, the price of canned anchovies or anchovy meals can be quite expensive.
