Working Together to Drive Consumption

16.5 Pounds per capita represents all the seafood consumed in the US. Seafood falls above turkey (13.4) but below pork (47.8), chicken (59.2), and beef (62.9). I have been working in this industry for 26 years and in that time we have only been able to increase consumption by 3.2 pounds. During that same time frame, Chicken has increased by 30 pounds. Why the disparity?

Have we not spent the past quarter century working collectively to increase the consumption of seafood? To be honest, we have not. Yes there has been work done to increase consumer awareness about the benefits of eating seafood, to educate them on just how easy the products are to prepare, to develop consumer confidence. But most, if not all, of this work has been done by individual operators/stakeholders and at times the point of the education/awareness has been to promote one source of product at the expense of another. This latter kind of awareness building ultimately benefits neither party. For as the barbs fly back and forth, promoting one source over another creates confusion in the customers mind regarding which product is indeed better. The last thing we need in this industry is a customer who is not completely clear on why they should be eating seafood.

It really is time for us to find a way to come together as an industry and promote Seafood, in all its various forms. This requires both the industry to come together and coalesce around a marketing campaign that supports the various members of the seafood community in the US market as well as the development of a funding mechanism that provides the resources needed to fully support this effort. In conjunction with this idea, we need to redefine how government monies are used to support the industry. The expenses that are currently devoted to promoting one sub segment of the industry would be better served promoting the entire industry.

Let’s start the campaign with an internal goal of 20 pounds in 2020. Working together we could get there - working apart there is little chance of that lofty goal becoming reality.

News in Retail best seafood, boston seafood, market, retail, seafood companies, stavis

It’s the holiday season and no matter what is going on in the world you cannot help but be infused with the spirit of the season.  I usually take this opportunity to connect with friends and associates in the trade to review how we have done this year and discuss what we can think about doing together in the New Year.   I recently had the opportunity to sit down with one of our retail customers over lunch and although the conversation covered a myriad of topics, the one that I found most interesting was the one on relationship building.

For almost 10 years I was associated with a company that in its heyday was considered to have one of the best products in its category and to be one of the leaders in the development of branded seafood.  Since that time, as invariable happens, the competition increased and became more sophisticated - both in what they offered and how they went to market.  Competitors were able to eliminate the quality differential that existed and in many cases surpass it.  There is no doubt that this had an impact on sales, but for this retailer this supplier still reigned supreme in his stores.  Admitting that the company’s product offering was not what it once was and by most measures was middle of the road, my friend stated that the reason they still continued to do well with this product line was service.  If you called any one of their stores and asked the seafood associate if they had the company’s sales rep’s number, not only would he be able to provide it but in most instances comment that he had just seen them in the past few days.   This could not be said for most of the competitors. 

This attention to the store personnel resulted in the stores themselves getting behind the company’s products.  The store personnel would talk it up during promotional periods in order to maximize results and make sure it was well stocked and placed in the case.  Although corporate can dictate product selection - at the end of the day, my friend stated, it is up to the stores to make the sale.  By focusing on selling multiple layers of the organization, this salesperson was able to maximize results.  The salesperson was building and maintaining loyalty in the face of stiff competition.  Although this type of selling requires time (and consequently money), the results, if entrusted to the right hands, can be well worth the investment.

News in Retail relationship building, retail, seafood business, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood expert, seafood market

2010 Predictions

As I contemplate the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 I am tasked with making predictions about what we can expect to see in the coming year.  Although 2009 was not as dire as many of us had thought it could be, I doubt there are many of us who will be sad to see the year pass and look forward to the opportunities that the future always holds in abundance.   

So what do I predict will happen in 2010?

• Although the economy will show “signs” of recovery in 2009, they will be only visible to those individuals working on Wall Street. Job creation will continue to be a challenge throughout 2010, as most companies continue to keep it lean and mean. Consequently, the average consumer will continue to increase savings and work towards trimming their budgets wherever they can. The increased savings rate will continue to impact the economic recovery, negatively in terms of year on year comparisons of the GDP - positively in that banks will be aggressive in developing lending relationships with solid companies in order to maximize the increased capital that will be at their disposal.
• Restaurants will continue to struggle with lackluster demand. Some of the high end chains will be forced to close a number of their poorer performing units in order to focus their resources on preserving their best units. The theme dining and mid-level chains will continue to promote value pricing in an effort to keep customer count, if not sales dollars, coming through the door. Profit margins will remain constant with 2009 as most of the chains have extracted most or all of the savings that they can from operations and administration already.
• Retail will continue to see increases ranging from 2-5%. The primary message will continue to be value for the dollar. Although most other proteins are anticipating a drop in production in 2010, which would normally result in increased prices, they will be hard pressed to pass along increases as they will not want to lose their competitive position relative to other proteins.
• Distribution will continue to see the consolidation primarily through attrition as smaller, weaker players are forced to sell or simply cease to operate.

2010 offers a variety of opportunities for seafood in that many of the core products that we sell are at historical lows - making seafood a true value, both in absolute and relative terms to other proteins.  Promoting that value will be the key to success in 2010.

News in Retail 2010, boston seafood, massachusetts seafood, miami seafood, predictions, quality, retail, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, stavis, value

Sustainability

Bringing the sustainable issue home to the everyday consumer is something that we have yet to do.  I wonder what the result would be if we each went home and asked our spouse, children and friends what MSC meant; how many would come back with the correct answer?  If your results are anywhere near the results that I have seen over the past few days, it’s pretty dismal.  Out of 8 people I asked - only one had the correct answer.  This is from a group of individuals that you would think by sheer proximity to the issue would have known the answer through osmosis.  If this small group from the seafood industry does not know what MSC represents and tries to create in terms of sustainability -  how can we expect the consumer at large to know the answer? 

 The seafood industry needs to address the issue of sustainability with the consumer quickly and directly.  It needs to speak to the myriad of news articles that lead the American consumer to believe that, as an industry, we have disregarded our responsibilities as stewards of the environment.  MSC needs to make itself relevant to the end consumer.  Once the MSC reaches the end consumer, it will make itself more relevant to the industry as a whole and not just the supplier community. This means that more time and energy needs to be spent developing a dialogue with the end consumer.  This can be done through well place print ads highlighting the fisheries that are certified sustainable by MSC along with a targeted Public Relations campaign.  The MSC and seafood industry can raise consumer awareness and in the process, increase consumption of seafood.

General State of Seafood MSC, MSC Certified, quality, seafood, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, stavis, sustainability

Branding             

One of the areas that I feel we have done a poor job of in the fresh seafood department is in developing brand loyalty.  No doubt there are plenty of branded products now hitting the case, as well as, a plethora of Private Label branded products.  But the question is - does the customer have any loyalty to these brands or are the products that they purchase driving their decision?  Is there a conventional retail store in this country that does not carry Oscar Meyer bacon, hot dogs and bologna?  Pepperidge Farm cookies?  Campbell’s Soup?  The list can go on at length of brand names that have become must-have products.  Are there any such products in the seafood case?  If a retailer changes from Chicken of the Sea brand shrimp to Contessa does the consumer really care?  Will anyone complain?  Will they even notice?

To make their brand relevant, companies need to define why it is important for the consumer to purchase - they need to develop a reason for the consumer to want to look for and purchase that brand.  As an industry we have spent a lot of time and energy convincing ourselves what the differences are between products - what we need to do is spend more of our resources conveying that message to the end consumer.   Through the power of branding we can convey to customers that the products that they are purchasing are safe, consistent and easy to use.   This, in turn, should lead to more confidence in their purchase and increase consumption.

News in Retail boston seafood, brand identity, branding, consumer, convenience, fresh, massachusetts seafood, quality, retail, seafood expert, seafood experts, stavis

Do you know the different trims of Atlantic Salmon?

C TRIM

• Back bone out
• Belly ribs off
• Collar bone off
• Dorsal fin off
• Dorsal fin trimmed
• Fat and belly fin trimmed
• Pinbone out

D TRIM

• Back bone out
• Belly ribs off
• Collar bone off
• Dorsal fin off
• Dorsal fin trimmed
• All belly completely removed with straight vertical cut
• Pinbone out
• Tail trimmed
• Fully trimmed

E TRIM

• Back bone out
• Belly ribs off
• Collar bone off
• Dorsal fin trimmed
• All belly completely removed with straight, vertical cut (not feathered)
• Pinbone out
• Tail trimmed
• Fully trimmed
• Skin off

Salmon atlantic salmon, best seafood, boston seafood, c trim, d trim, e trim, florida seafood, Fresh Fish, fresh seafood, miami seafood, quality, Salmon, seafood company, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, seafood products, stavis, value

Selling the Seafood Sizzle

One of the biggest problems that most consumers have with seafood is that they simply do not know how to cook it.  This problem can be solved with a little education which will, when done effectively, create a loyal, committed customer.  The question is how to educate. In today’s fast paced society, the consumer is typically looking to reduce their time shopping.  Although they may say they are looking for an experience, in most cases, they target on developing a solution to their need for a meal and want to be in and out of the store as fast as possible.  Getting your customer engaged will be the key to making them a customer. 

The passive route to take is to develop recipe cards and to make them available to customers both at the counter and via your web site.  The benefit of this approach is the low cost - on the flip side - it will do little to engage your customer and get them excited about seafood.  The more proactive means of engagement would entail product demonstrations on site to show the customer the possibilities for creating a meal.  The upside of this approach is that your customer will see, smell, and taste the product - the downside is that it is expensive and results in limited customer exposure. 

I would recommend a hybrid approach - shoot a short video - no more than one minute - showing customers how to cook a particular meal.  In order to fully engage your store associates in the promotion, have them submit the recipes and do the cooking.  Combine this with a menu planning card as a take away and you have fully engaged your customer and made a sale in the process.

News in Retail fresh, frozen, market, quality, retail, seafood, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, seafood products, stavis, value

Great Seafood Sells - More than you might think

As the economy has gotten tougher and customers have looked to increase their buying power, seafood has become challenged to compete with other lower priced proteins in stores. Consequently, seafood has seen smaller increases in sales than any other proteins over the last 12 months. Consumers have transferred their food dollars from restaurants to the grocery store. In response to this and the need to work on tighter margins, retailers have been reviewing the viability of maintaining fresh seafood departments in every store. In some cases, based on the ROI per square foot, retailers have decided not to keep a service department and convert solely to a self-serve case. But, purely looking at ROI does not tell the whole story.  It does not provide the complete impact that a fresh seafood case can have on sales dollars and profits that a store generates.

One chain in particular discovered that the fresh seafood service case has a broad reaching impact on every department in the store. After removing a number of service cases, they found that store sales were suffering in most of the other departments. They noticed that a number of higher ticket items were showing softness in sales and that the average order size per customer was declining. Upon further inspection, it was determined that the withdrawal of the service seafood case drove customers to purchase their groceries elsewhere. These same customers tended to create more culinary experiences and drove the sales of many of the higher priced and potentially higher margin vegetable, dairy, grocery and meat items. Where the average consumer might have spent $75.00 per visit, the average service seafood case consumer would spend $125 per visit. Although the seafood department may represent only 2-3% of total sales in retail - the truth is that it has a greater impact on the success of the store. The results would lead one to believe that by effective merchandising of fresh seafood, highlighting its health and convenience benefits, and the cross merchandising of products, the percentage of customers who frequent the seafood case increases. This also generates a new contingent of customers who are interested in creating a culinary experience, not just a meal.

News in Retail best seafood, boston seafood, convenience, fresh, frozen, market, quality, retail, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, seafood products, stavis, value, wholesale seafood

Looking For Value

The food landscape - always a fluid environment, has seen some dramatic shifts over the past 12 months. With consumers reducing their dining out dollars and increasing the number of meals consumed in the home, competition has become most intense in the past few months to provide value to retail consumers trying to stretch their purchasing power. This is great news from a retailer’s perspective as it drives more consumers into the store and many retailers are seeing comp sales increases as high as 5% over last year. But what are they going to buy? Convenience-as the economy has slid into recession, people are working harder. Taking on more responsibility and working more hours as they are asked to do more with less. They have little or no time to plan much less execute on a meal. So they are looking for products that they know how to cook or products that they feel they cook quickly and successfully. Quality-for those consumers that are trading in their frequent diner card for a frequent shopper card, they are coming into the store looking for products that will replace that restaurant experience. That means that they are looking for quality products in terms of freshness, taste and appearance. Value- Consumers are watching their expenditures. Savings rates have increased for the first time in decades and everyone is trying to do more with less. Does this mean that they are looking for the cheapest product on the shelf? Not necessarily. What they are looking for is a solid value. Products that are aggressively priced and meet their need for quality and convenience at the same time.

Unfortunately, seafood has not fared as well as we all would like in this competition. In the last three quarters of 08′, seafood was the only perishables department that did not see an increase in sales and tonnage. As customers have defined their purchasing decisions they have found that other proteins, in particular poultry, which saw a 6.7% increase in sales in 2008, have met their needs more effectively. It does not have to be this way. There are a large number of products that can be offered at a great value.  Products like Capensis, Swai and Ponga, to name a few, all offer wholesale price points in the mid $2.00 range which would allow a retailer to market these products for as little as $3.99 per pound on sale. Although it may take some innovative marketing to introduce consumers to these species, given the competitive environment I think it will be well worth the effort.

News in Retail boston, boston seafood, convenience, fresh, frozen, market, massachusetts seafood, miami, quality, retail, seafood, stavis, value, wholesale seafood