"This growth, which took place between 1 and 16 December, is because of the increase in the consumption of dry cod by the Portuguese and also due to the fact that people are buying more in stores", he explained.

"As the companies are not going to hold the usual Christmas dinners, they are offering hampers to their worker and are including the cod in boxes, which has already been cut" said the manager of the company based in Coimbra and which was founded in 1987.

On the other hand, says the manager, "people looking for cod are buying later", which also explains the increase registered between 1 and 16 December, compared to the same period of 2019.

"In the period of May and June there was a drop in sales above 50 percent, which we were never able to recover from", said Joselito Lucas, noting that, in the accumulated total, Lugrade foresees a 10 percent drop in turnover this year in relation to 2019.

The export sector, which represents 15% of turnover, about four million Euros, will also close the year with losses of 10 percent, which was mainly due to "confinement in European countries".

"In the post confinement we recovered something, but not enough," said Joselito Lucas, adding that the biggest drop was recorded in France, one of the countries hardest hit by the covid-19.

The company exports to several countries in the world, from Germany to Canada, through Switzerland.