Revival of traditional recipes
This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 3 2025.
Deltaica is a Romanian fish processing company headquartered in Tulcea, near the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. The company which started its business in the fishing sector is today a modern processor of high-quality fish products. With a strong emphasis on tradition, certification, and local sourcing, Deltaica exemplifies how regional identity and international standards can coexist in contemporary food production.
Deltaica started in the Black Sea fishing industry under the name Miadmar, operating a fleet of trawling vessels that targeted species like sprat, turbot, and Rapana whelk. Initially, the company was vertically integrated, catching and processing its own fish. The first processing unit was established around 2012, a move that marked the beginning of Deltaica’s shift toward value-added production. The catch was dominated by sprats which were processed into salted, marinated, and frozen fish.
Fishing ceases to be commercially viable
Five years ago Deltaica exited the fishing sector entirely. Several factors drove this decision: unstable fishing conditions in the Black Sea, inadequate port facilities in Romania for mid-size trawlers, restrictive quotas, and the risks posed by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine—including drifting sea mines and restricted nighttime fishing. These challenges made fishing financially unsustainable, prompting the company to focus entirely on fish processing and its two 25 m trawlers were sold to a Bulgarian company. There are still some 20 Romanian vessels fishing in the Black Sea, but Daniel Buhai, the owner of Deltaica, suspects their results are not very good
A processing line for sprats. When Black Sea sprats are not available sprats from the Baltic Sea are used instead.
He has, in addition to the processing operations, also embarked on a pioneering venture. This consists of a concession nine nautical miles (17 km) offshore in the Black Sea where he plans to trial farming mussels using longlines. This site, classified as a Type A area—indicating minimal biological contamination—will serve as a testbed for future expansion. The initiative is being developed in partnership with an Italian firm experienced in mussel cultivation. Deltaica aims to launch the farm by the end of 2025, with the first phase involving installation of anchoring systems and assessment of biological viability. The plot is in the northern part of the Romanian coastline close to the Danube delta and was chosen partly because it is close to Tulcea where the company is located, but mainly because this is a nutrient-rich area thanks to the Danube river. The nutrients foster the growth of the phytoplankton on which the mussels feed so the mussels should grow rapidly. But, Mr Buhai says, we will evaluate the situation after a year to see whether we should expand the area or do something else.
Products based purely on natural ingredients
For the moment Deltaica‘s core strength lies in its specialisation: producing fish products free from chemical preservatives. Instead, the company relies on natural preservatives such as salt, vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar. This approach caters to a growing consumer demand for clean-label, traditionally crafted foods. Mr Buhai focuses on recipes with deep roots in the Danube delta region, aiming to revive and preserve its regional culinary heritage. Our policy has been to achieve EU certifications of geographical indication, PGI (protected geographical indication) and TSG (traditional speciality guaranteed) he says, and currently four of our products have been granted certificates with a fifth one in the evaluation phase. The PGI-certified products include carp and pike roe salads based on traditional Romanian recipes and smoked Danube shad, a herring-like fish that migrates upriver to spawn and is harvested during its short seasonal run from March to May; other products are carp pastrami, made from the fatty belly of the silver carp and seasoned with spices; and marinated sprat, a product formerly derived from the company’s own Black Sea catch, but now produced in the summer when the sprat catches from the Black Sea are landed. Otherwise, the company has been forced to use Baltic Sea sprat as raw material as catches from the Black Sea have not been very good. But if catches improve,
Mr Buhai would like to source this raw material again from Romania and Bulgaria as the Baltic Sea product has become extremely expensive. The product still under evaluation is a lightly salted and smoked fillet of sturgeon and Mr Buhai is confident that it too will soon carry the TSG label. The labels offer consumers an additional guarantee that the product strictly follows a recipe and is subject to monitoring by an independent body that makes scheduled as well as unannounced audits.
Dragos Buhai (pictured) together with his sister Theodora Buhai assist
their father in running the company preparatory to taking over
the reins in the future.
Focus on the Romanian market allows a shorter shelf life
Working solely with natural ingredients to process the fish tends to shorten the shelf life. Fish roe salads can keep for two weeks and the marinated fish for up to 45 days as the vinegar used is made from wine and not synthetic acetic acid. The smoked items too have a 30-to-40-day shelf life. This makes the products difficult to export, says Mr Buhai, as it carries a certain risk. Moreover, demand on the Romanian market is good and meeting it is already difficult so exporting will only make that issue worse. The lack of exports does not prevent Mr Buhai from regularly visiting the world’s biggest fish and seafood trade show in Barcelona. Each year he comes there seeking suppliers and inspiration for new products. At Deltaica one to two new products are launched each year, he says, so it is very useful to learn about the trends in the seafood industry. A recent product, for example, is a pate made by combining freshwater fish and marine fish. Pates are a convenient product because they are healthful and spreadable without the bones that sometimes make fish a hard sell. Products like the pate add value to freshwater species which are as tasty as marine fish but not as popular. Deltaica sources freshwater species like silver carp, common carp, and grass carp from large aquaculture operations in Lake Babadag, Lake Dranov, and other sites near the Danube Delta. These relationships ensure a stable and local supply of raw material while supporting the regional economy. Mr Buhai has found several recipes for freshwater fish products that are just as good as those for marine species. But common to both is an interest from the retail sector for products that contain less salt, less smoke, and make less use of plastic. Deltaica accommodates these requests as far as possible but as Mr Buhai points out, salt and smoke are natural preserving agents and since we do not use chemical agents there is a limit as to how low we can go with the level of salt or the degree of smoking. Deltaica also reduced the plastic on its tubs of fish salad by replacing the lid with a metal foil.
The meat from freshwater fish is enclosed in a net and lightly smoked. Popularising freshwater fish by adding value is among
the company’s priorities.
Looking to diversify sales channels
In addition to product-level certifications, Deltaica’s production facility holds IFS (International Featured Standards) certification, which is crucial for supplying large retailers. Though the company does not currently focus on exports, it adheres to international food safety standards due to its partnerships with major Romanian retailers such as Lidl, Carrefour, and Penny, which absorb 80% of the production. Products are mainly sold under the retailers’ brands with a fraction using the Deltaica label. Working with retailers is fruitful but tough as they drive a hard bargain and have little sympathy for unexpected increases in input costs such as when the price of Baltic Sea sprats suddenly spiked, so Mr Buhai plans to diversify his sales channels. Currently the company has two of its own shops and one option is to increase this number. Deltaica also supplies the biggest online retailer in Romania, a company with the logistical infrastructure to distribute across the country.
Pike and carp roe are made into salads following traditional recipes. These products have received TSG (traditional speciality guaranteed) certification from the European Commission.
Historical recipes combined with forward-thinking
Deltaica currently operates at about 75% of its capacity and will increase this as production ramps up with the innovative new items that it develops on a regular basis. The company represents a model of regional authenticity merged with modern food production standards. By focusing on natural processing, traditional recipes, and certified quality, the company has carved out a strong niche in the Romanian market. Its move into aquaculture reflects a forward-looking mindset that balances sustainability with business viability while remaining both a custodian of tradition and a quietly ambitious innovator in the world of fish processing.
