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

What’s in a name? Grouper

by Richard Stavis

One of the biggest strengths of Seafood is also its biggest weakness- the incredible variety of species available.  A well recognized Seafood “name” is very valuable.  It has the power to drive consumption and to maximize its value.  In days past fishmongers would give these fish the name of the fish that they most closely resembled OR the name of a similar fish that had a high market value.  Thankfully this practice is behind us for the most part, but there remains a patchwork quilt of products that resemble “famous name” fish as well as some fish that are able to claim those names even though they may not taste or look as you might expect them to.  Our goal with this recurring column is to help consumers make informed choices, as well as, to make lesser known species more accessible.

The FDA defines Grouper as a number of subspecies in the Epinephelus genus of fish.  It has a mild white fillet that is moist, dense, and a bit chewy.  It’s a high value fish and it’s highly prized, especially in the southeast.  Demand for it outstrips supply.  It’s also the poster child for name fraud, and it’s rare in that the fraud still goes on to this day.   Sometimes the importer is in on the scheme, sometimes it is being scammed from the processor.  As this issue has come to the forefront most responsible importers (Stavis Seafoods included) have started DNA testing all incoming shipments of frozen Grouper to ensure that what they are selling is truly Grouper.  This is less practical on fresh fish as it is often harvested and sold in smaller quantities.

What are some of the more common Grouper imposters?  Historically exporters from Indonesia and Thailand have sold Sweetlip, Emperor fish, and Bonefish as Grouper.   Swai/Basa/Pangassius (a future “What’s in a Name” subject) from Viet Nam took the U.S. by storm in the early 2000’s.  One importer was convicted this past May of selling more than 1 million pounds of the fish as grouper, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

A myriad of fresh fish have also been passed off as Grouper.  Some of the wild species used have included Tripletail, Corvina, KingClip, Snook, and Snapper.   We’ve also seen some farmed fish including Tilapia and Catfish being passed off as Grouper.

It is possible to ensure that what you’re selling can be or what you’re buying is legally Grouper, but is this the whole story?  What comes to mind when you hear the name “Reef Cod”?  Guess what- it’s a Grouper!  This fish has now become very popular because of its name cachet, but is it the best option if you want to replicate the experience of Atlantic Grouper?  Probably not- I’d go for Corvina! I ask again, what’s in a name?

What's in a Name? best seafood, boston seafood, convenience, fresh, Fresh Fish, fresh seafood, frozen, frozen seafood, miami seafood, retail, seafood companies, seafood company, 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

The Luxury Backlash

This economic disaster has created widespread commodity deflation. With the exception of Farmed Salmon, which is suffering from a major crop failure in Chile, we have seen prices drop. Sometimes these price drops can be good for a product. Lower prices, historically, have lead to increased consumption, and we’ve seen this on a number of items this year. There are a category of items however that have experienced a disproportionate drop in value and seen consumption drop to boot. I’m talking about luxury seafood items. 

What is a luxury seafood item? You’d think that it would be defined by price, but that is only part of the story. Perception is the other part of the equation. How many people are buying Hummers right now? Not a lot. It’s not solely based on the cost.  According to Carprice.com the base price of a Hummer is $32,345. The base price of a Toyota Avalon is $32,145, virtually identical. The Hummer is actually cheaper on the lot. People aren’t buying Hummers because of the message of “in your face” luxury and crass commercialism. Three years ago it was a status symbol. Now, it’s an embarrassment. This same thing is happening in Seafood.

What have been the biggest losers this past year in seafood? Jumbo Lump Pasteurized Crabmeat, Jumbo Shrimp and Lobster tails. These items dropped in value precipitously when the economy softened. The worst part was that consumption dropped more quickly than the prices, and no amount of discounting could bring that customer base back into the fold. We’re almost a year into the new economic reality and what do we see with these items? The pricing is still at or near historic lows and demand is still relatively low. What’s to be done?

We have to reposition these seafood items and make them accessible to a wider range of customers. We have to take the smaller sizes of lobster tails and sell them at retail as an affordable luxury. We need to get large shrimp on the menus of midrange restaurants in preparations that are not too “snotty” and at prices that are reasonable. We need to change customers’ perceptions of the position of these items in the marketplace.

It wasn’t just our 401k values that changed when the economy went south. We also have experienced a major shift in culture, away from flash and pretention and towards modesty and value. No one is sure how long the economy will be bad. Similarly we don’t know when or whether we will see a shift in cultural values. We need to live in the present and build our business based on current realities. If we do this, we’ll create a stronger and more stable base of demand for all products.

General State of Seafood Add new tag, convenience, fresh, frozen, market, massachusetts seafood, miami seafood, quality, retail, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, seafood products, stavis, value

Welcome!

 This is your place to learn about a wide variety of fresh and frozen seafood.  Posts will cover a variety of topics.  Expect to see focus features on individual species of fish such as Cod or Pollock.  You’ll also see articles comparing different species of Shrimp, Crab, or Lobster.  Some posts will have pictures of fish and will teach you how to handle and prepare them.  Other posts will focus on the seafood commodity markets, helping you to anticipate rises and falls.  We’ll explain the different species of wild Salmon, the different countries of origin for farmed Salmon, and how to choose which to use.  Additionally we will have a recipe section with our favorite seafood recipes and a glossary of fish terms that may stump you.  The seafood experts who will be contributing to this website have an average of 20 years of experience.  In general, our focus is on posting and publishing articles, as such we will be moderated and are not likely to post many responses.  We will review your responses however, and will do our best to reply to you off-line.  Feel free to email us with suggestions for future posts as well.  Again, this website is for you.  Thank you for your attention, and welcome to seafoodexperts.net!

General State of Seafood best seafood, boston, boston seafood, cephalopod, convenience, fish, florida seafood, fresh, Fresh Fish, fresh seafood, frozen, frozen seafood, market, massachusetts seafood, miami, miami seafood, quality, retail, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood distributors, seafood expert, seafood experts, seafood products, stavis, value, wholesale seafood

Confusion reigns in the Gulf….

I have only been buying the shrimp in earnest here at Stavis Seafoods for the last five years, so my historical perspective is a bit skewed when it comes to all time low pricing in certain markets. This year for sure, we have hit the ALL TIME low since Hurricane Katrina and beyond when it comes to domestic shell-on and peeled shrimp.  Up here in the New England states we really try and stick to using white shrimp from the Gulf, as our consumer tastes just prefer milder wild shrimp; but, we still keep our pulse on the brown markets as well. When 16-20 white shell-on domestic shrimp hit bottom about three years ago, many of the importers who were only focusing on tiger shrimp and other Asian species jumped in and bought truckload after truckload.

This year there are many factors in play that have driven the price to below the record low of three years ago.  The fuel costs have been relatively low, the fishing in the Gulf has been exceptional, the import prices of tiger shrimp have remained fairly stable due to lower production and the currency exchange and, frankly, the economy is still NOT improved enough for importers and speculators to jump in and make container load purchases unless they have prior commitments. These factors have resulted in lower and lower prices of both shell-on shrimp and peeled shrimp.

So are we at the bottom? Well, this is the BIG question for all of the buyers large and small out there.  If there is a significant weather event (hurricane season is upon us) and fishing gets interrupted, the prices could creep back up.  If suppliers hold their inventories and the economy does not improve, then the “sales for cash” could keep markets remaining weak. We are about to come into the Mexican wild season starting in October and if they have good catches, then the prices could remain low in the Gulf as well.

When my dad, Ed Stavis bought the shrimp here for over 30 years he would always say, “dealing in all of these markets is fun and interesting,” and boy was he right! He was the master and we still have the most animated discussions over the shrimp markets today.  Whether or not we are at the bottom of this market, the good news in this economy is that consumers can enjoy wild caught domestic shrimp in many forms at really affordable prices, and it should be on any and all menus in restaurants and in retail chains across America.

Shrimp Add new tag, best seafood, boston seafood, Brown Market, Domestic Shrimp, florida seafood, fresh, frozen, frozen seafood, market, massachusetts seafood, miami seafood, quality, seafood companies, seafood company, seafood expert, seafood products, Shrimp, stavis, value, White Shell-On

Fresh Swordfish

While fresh swordfish can be enjoyed year round, perhaps the best time to do it is during the months of September and October. Off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia and surrounding areas just north and south of Boston lies the cold, clean, waters of the Emerald Basin, home to some of the largest, fattiest, and best tasting swordfish found anywhere in the world.

Harvested by long line Canadian fishing vessels, these large, Atlantic Ocean swordfish are prized for their freshness, firm meat, and taste. The cold water environment makes the fish nice and fat, giving the meat a lot of flavor, similar to marbling in beef. You can’t get these fish year round. They are mostly caught between late August and early November, with the majority of the fish landed in September and October.

If you are a lover of swordfish, now is the time to savor what you already enjoy. If you are curious as to what swordfish tastes like, you will get no better opportunity to have the “real deal” in these next two months. So the next time you wish to have swordfish, ask if it’s Canadian Basin swordfish. You will be glad that you did.

Fresh Fish best seafood, boston seafood, Canadian Basin, Canadian Basin Swordfish, Emerald Basin, fish, florida seafood, fresh, Fresh Fish, fresh seafood, fresh swordfish, market, massachusetts seafood, miami, miami seafood, quality, seafood companies, seafood expert, seafood experts, seafood products, stavis, swordfish

South African Lobster Tails

These are cold water spiny lobster tails. They have the well deserved reputation as the world’s premiere lobster, offering unmatched freshness, taste and texture. Caught in the cold, clean waters of the coast of South Africa, this lobster is immediately processed on frozen-at-sea vessels to preserve freshness. Dramatically overflowing with meat, these sweet and mild lobster tails can be boiled, steamed or grilled. These Lobster Tails can be thawed and chilled prior to use, delivering added versatility during preparation and presentation.

The factory vessels fish in very deep water off of the coast of South Africa at an average depth of 900-1200 feet. The lobsters are caught in traps.

The shell is very thin and the meat to shell ratio is very high.

This lobster species is smaller than other lobsters. The majority of the lobster tails are in the 3.5 oz to 6.0 oz range.

Each size has a letter designation. The following is how the lobster tails are graded:

Tight size grading allows customers to keep South African lobster tails on the menu at an affordable price point.

Comparison of South African lobster tails to other cold water lobster species:

Suggested applications and preparations for South African Lobster Tails include:

Uses of Raw Extracted Meat

Medallions • Casserole dishes • Ceviche

Split Tails

South African Lobster Tail’s uniquely thin shell allows it to be split easily

Uses In-Shell

Surf & Turf • Broiled • Grilled • Boiled

Lobster best seafood, boston seafood, frozen, frozen seafood, Lobster, market, massachusetts seafood, miami seafood, quality, retail, seafood expert, South African Lobster, South African Lobster Tails, stavis, value, wholesale seafood