The aim of the project was to develop for the FAO a visual database of products from warm water aquaculture, namely shrimps/prawns, tilapia and pangasius on the EU market. The project involved several steps:
1. A desk study for the identification and selection of the most relevant EU countries that consume value-added products from the above-mentioned species, including product types that are consumed in these countries (e.g. chilled, frozen, prepared, ready-to-eat, etc). The countries selected were Spain, France, United Kingdom and Italy for shrimps and prawns, and Spain, Poland and Germany for both tilapia and pangasius. In addition, Denmark was also selected for all above mentioned products.
2. For the selected countries representative retail outlets in different were visited and value-added products identified. Where allowed photos of value-added products were made on site in the shops. Where permission was not obtained, the products were bought and photographed afterwards.
3. For each photographed product the label information was added to the database; this included prices, certification schemes, preservation, ingredients, weight, origin of product, etc. In addition, the information on the label was translated into English (e.g. from Danish, French, Italian, German, Polish and Spanish).
4. The photos were formatted, edited and uploaded to a dedicated website, created for the purpose of the project.
5. CDs containing the website/database were produced.