The different prices between tuna loin manufacturer and canned tuna products
Maybe you wonder about why tuna loin prices are so different when compared with canned tuna. You may also think it does not make sense because both of the products are made from the same tuna fish. So, why tuna loin usually have higher prices than tuna in canned?
For your information, even though both products are made with tuna fish, they are truthfully are really different one to another. That’s why frozen tuna loin manufacturer have huge different price gap with tuna canned. They are processed with different methods too, this affect the prices of both tuna product as well.
Below are some factors that affect the different prices of both tuna loin manufacturer and canned tuna:
1.      The tuna raw material
Although both tuna loin and canned tuna are made from tuna fish, however the tuna raw materials that are used to make the two products are actually very different.
·         Tuna loin: The tuna fish used to make this product need to have really large and big size so the manufacturer being able to make the loin shape. Moreover, large tuna size are difficult to be found since they are rare and thus there is some limit on how many large tuna can be caught every year.
·         Canned tuna: Unlike tuna loin, you can use any tuna sizes to make and process tuna in canned since they in the end will be cut into small pieces. Albacore tuna is just one example that often used to make canned tuna product.
From the factor above, of course the prices for both products will be different.
2.      The quality of the tuna meat
When the manufacturer wants to make tuna canned, they can use any kinds of tuna meat they have in the storage and this is why they can make it easier than tuna loin manufacturer. But, it is not that easy to make tuna loin because before the factory cut the tuna into loin, they need to grade the meat to get the best quality of tuna fish. Only tuna fish with high quality meat can be used to make tuna loin and that’s why tuna loin is often priced more expensive than tuna in canned. Moreover, tuna loin prices one and another also different based on these grades. You can tell the quality of the tuna meat based on the prices as well. The higher the price then it is means the higher the tuna grade.
3.      The quantity of the tuna products
Just like we already mentioned before, canned tuna can be processed using any size of tuna meat and they are easier to be made than tuna loin manufacturer since the raw material is abundant. Canned tuna is available in large quantity because of this reason alone. You can tell it when go to shopping in local market or stores. Adversely, raw material to make tuna loin is limited and rare and so they are available in smaller quantities unlike canned tuna products. Even so, with the limited amount of tuna raw material to make tuna loin, the production cost is also very pricey. The high cost need to be covered up with the high market prices and not to mention, the factory also need to make some profit from that.
4.      Tuna product storage
As you may already know, canned tuna can be stored longer and since they are cooked, you can easy store it inside your pantry (of course in unopened condition) anytime. Meanwhile, tuna loin is still in raw state and thus the factory need to store the fish product inside large and very cold storage to prevent the tuna loin going rotten. It is mean that the factory needs to spend some maintaining cost just to store tuna loin in such special storage. Canned tuna which already cooked and packaged inside vacuum can plus preserved does not need a special storage to be maintained. As you can see, it makes huge gap in both of the product prices.
And from the information we shared to you above, now you know all the factors which affect the different prices between tuna loin manufacturer and canned tuna product. For some reason, people prefer to have canned tuna instead of tuna loin since they are cheaper and they are also easy to be found.
However, it does not mean you need to purchase tuna product based on the price alone. You need to pick which tuna is best to be used for your meals based on how you want to use them in your recipe and not just because they are cheaper. Many tuna loin in high quality is really tasty when you cook them. Moreover, if you can find good tuna loin manufacturer supplier, you can get high quality of tuna loin grades.
The same also goes when you want to find good canned tuna. Find a market that sell variety of tuna in cans. And if you are lucky, you can even get discount prices for a pack of tuna canned that you can spend for a week! Hope these little notes can help you to find great tuna loin or tuna in can products.

Tuna Loin Factory with Various Production Lines
One of the methods that you can use to determine the quality of the tuna loin product created by the tuna loin factory is by seeing their production line. If their production line is correct, then the factory product result will also have great quality. Of course, the production line is not the only thing that can affect the quality of the product as there are many other things that may affect them. Nevertheless, it is one good method that you can easily do to determine the quality without having to do any test to the product itself.
The production line that the best tuna loin factory should have in their building when creating their products are as follow:
1.      Grading line
This is the first production line inside the factory that the tuna has to go through when creating the product. When entering this line, the tuna itself is still in the form of tuna fish instead of raw meat. They arrive to this first line right after the fishermen give them to the worker. Then the worker will bring the tuna fish into the factory and enter this line.
The worker that works inside this line is not an ordinary worker. Instead they are professional grader which already specifically certified to do this job. They already know all of the qualification to determine which tuna fish that has high value or not. That is why; they will be able to separate good quality tuna fish with bad quality tuna fish.
The quality of the tuna fish itself will also determine the quality of the product created by the factory. Thus it is one of the most important lines that the factory has when creating their product. If the factory that you want to use does not have this line, then it is possible that their product will not have good quality as their tuna fish is not graded before being used to make their product.
Then the grader will send all of those good quality tuna fishes into the next production line that they have in the factory. Now the real production process will begin in the next line that we will discuss further bellow.
2.      Cutting line
This is the real first production line that the tuna loin factory will use to create their product. In this line, the creation process will begin by cutting as well as cleaning the tuna fish. Through this line, then the tuna fish will be cut into loin and separated from other parts of the fish that is not needed inside the loin.
The special thing that you as a buyer need to know about this line is that the worker in this line may also create the tuna loin product in various sizes. Especially since the factory usually does not only have one tuna loin sizing. In fact their sizing may even be varied from one buyer to another. The reason is because the buyers may also ask the factory to cut the loin in the specific sizing as what they need. Thus the end product result sizing for each buyer will be different from another.
This is another thing that you need to know as you can also try to ask the factory to cut the loin in the size that you determine as a buyer. Good factory usually give this service for their buyer so you can also determine their quality through this service.
3.      Co treatment line
Actually there are two loin products that can be made by the tuna loin factory. First is the CO treated product which will be created in this next line. In this line the tuna meat which already cut and cleaned will be treated with CO to maintain their nice red color. Especially since this CO treated product will be send to the buyer in raw condition. Thus it is important for the loin to still have the red color which shows that they are still in good condition which can be maintained through this process.
4.      Cooking line
In this next production line, the factory will be creating their second product which is the pre cooked product. That is why in this line the tuna meat which already cut and cleaned will be cooked using steamer in high heat and pressure. This will make the product become soft and tender when send to the buyer in pre cooked condition. This kind of product is interesting for the buyer especially when they do not want to use the product in raw condition which will need a lot more process to work on. This process will also able to maintain the quality of the tuna meat as the meat will be cooked while it is still fresh.
5.      Packing line
As the name suggested, the tuna loin will be packed in this production line. There are various packing requirement that each factory use so you may want to ask to your supplier for their specific detail. However, the tuna loin usually packed inside individual package by the tuna loin factory.
6.      Freezing line
This is the last production line that will be use by the factory to freeze their product. Through this line the tuna loin quality can be maintained for longer period.
Those are several production lines that you will see inside tuna loin factory that is used by your supplier. We hope that this knowledge will be useful for your information.

Whole tuna loin product description
There are several different whole tuna loin types according to their species which are:
-          Yellowfin tuna fish: This is one of the most popular species of tuna that sold widely in many countries including Europe. Yellowfin also known as ‘ahi’ with yellow fins appearance. This kind of species can be purchased in a form of a whole tuna loin, tuna steak, tuna saku, tuna fillets, and canned tuna.
-          Albacore tuna fish: Just like yellowfin, the albacore is also the most popular species of tuna that sold in Europe. The albacore has pale flesh which sold mainly as a whole or in cans. They also sold in frozen and fresh condition.
-          Bigeye tuna fish: This one type of tuna fish is also known as ‘ahi’. Bigeye often sold as tuna steak and mostly used in sushi dishes.
-          Bluefin tuna fish: It is the biggest tuna fish and often used as sushi too.
-          Skipjack tuna fish: On the contrary, skipjack is the smallest tuna species since when it caught, they are mostly found in relatively small size. That’s why skipjack is used to be sold in a form of tuna cans.
The quality of the whole tuna loin
In terms of quality, there are many terms are used to determine the quality of tuna loin and these criteria will also affect the prices. Usually whole tuna loin is graded based on their size, freshness, shape, fat content, texture, and the color. For seller it is best if they ask what is the buyers preference when they are looking for a tuna loin since different buyers will have different requirements. And as buyers, if you need tuna loin then it is best to let the suppliers know what your preferences as well because you may need to use the tuna for different intentions.
Discuss with the sellers and tell them your specific specifications of the tuna loin. You can also ask for the grades, whether you want to buy the highest AAA grade or the lowest A grade. If you want to get the highest grade of tuna loin then you may need to spend much more than the A tuna grade. Sellers also need to discuss the specification they willing to sell or available with the buyers. It can help to strengthen the relationship of seller and the customers.
If you did not know the criteria or how to check the quality of the whole tuna loin suppliers product then you need to find out first so when you make some discussion with the tuna suppliers, you can understand more and get the best product according to your preference.
Processing, packaging, and transport of the whole tuna loin
Most of the whole tuna loin export products are sold in frozen state and then vacuum packaging to prevent spoilage. It is important that the suppliers store the tuna loin in special store with specific temperature to avoid the tuna loin being rotten in a long journey before arrive in its destination.
Packaging requirements of the tuna loin is also different depending on each market segment and the requirement of the customers. And this is why, once again, it is really crucial for the suppliers or the sellers to conduct some discussion with the customers or buyers. However, there are some general characteristic for tuna loin processing, packaging, and transportation such as:
-          Tuna loin is mostly delivered in vacuum packaged to avoid spoilage
-          Beside tuna loin, other tuna product that sold mostly is tuna steak. The tuna steaks are usually processed and the pre-packaged in Europe according to retailer the specifications.
-          For retail packaging, they are mostly placed in trays with some plastic filter and the portion is varied between 100 grams to 500 grams and such.
Labeling if whole tuna loin
The labeling of whole tuna loin in Europe is need to present specific information including the species of the tuna fish and it also need to provide important information like production of the products, harvesting, the use of fishing gear, and many more.
Sustainability is an important thing in Europe market
For the tuna suppliers, it is important that they understand about the sustainability trends in the Europe market before they offer some tuna loin products. Especially tuna or seafood retailers in both Western and Northern Europe demands sustainable products. Sustainability components that used are for example:
-          The tuna fish are caught with minimal impact of environment methods.
-          The tuna fish are caught with minimal impact of other species methods like the turtles.
-          The tuna fish is in healthy and robust stocks.
Those are some sustainability trends in Europe countries regarding whole tuna loin exports imports that tuna suppliers really need to understand so their products can pass the qualifications and get permission to sell tuna loin and other tuna products in many Europe countries. In fact, other countries beside Europe are starting to have similar trends.
Super frozen whole tuna in loin
The demand for super frozen tuna fish product is increasing in Europe countries. It means the tuna is frozen in minus 60 degrees Celsius right after being caught. This is need to be conducted in order to maintain the quality and the freshness of the tuna fish before being processed and cut in loins, steaks, and other tuna products.
You can discuss with the whole tuna loin suppliers whether they can store the tuna with super frozen condition or whether it will be advantage for you to have such requirement. Hope this information helps you to understand more about the export import market in Europe countries.