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Contact with Italy is of very great importance to the stockfish industry on Røst. Around 85 per cent of the stockfish produced on Røst went to Italy, initially via a number of middlemen. Agents were for a long period of time important middlemen between exporters and importers. The stockfish, on its journey to dinner tables in Italy, passed through the hands of the importer, then the wholesaler and finally the soaking company. These soaked the fish so that it was ready for use and then sent on out into the market. Many soaking companies also today have import licences. Each early summer, representatives of Italian soaking companies therefore came to Røst to see the year's stockfish. The ties between those who produce the stockfish and those who make it ready to cook in Italy are today stronger than at anytime before.
There are a number of moments of high expectation in stockfish production. Large amounts of the raw material are purchased for stockfish production a long time before the stockfish is sold onwards and the loan amounts required make each season nerve-racking. A number of factors also play a significant role: weather, the quality the year's stockfish, currency rates and what is going on in the markets. Buyers from Italy are all well informed about this and Italians are well-known for their negotiating skills.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
Original text: from Elisabeth Johansen, Anne Cecilie Pedersen, Einar Stamnes (2018)
Tørrfisk – kystkultur, kokekunst, Querini. Stamsund: Orkana forlag.
Translation to English: Alasdair Graham-Brown
Representatives of the family company Tagliapietra from Mestre, Venice regularly visit Røst. Representatives are here visiting Arne Johansen, General Manager of A. Johansen A/S.
Photos: Kjell Ove Storvik and Einar Stamnes