Food for thought: Fishery analyst tells aquaculture industry to look to retail sector for growth

By ALISHA MORRISSEY

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

Transcontinental Media/The Telegram

Not many of us are willing to pay for lobster at white tablecloth prices these days, but fish is still a viable dinner option at home - even if it is coming out of the microwave.

In seafood sales there are two distinct sectors - retail sales and food service.

Traditionally food service, or restaurant and bar sales, have been the highest-priced seafood products because they had the most value added.

But with nearly every consumer group scaling back on spending, one industry analyst is reminding fish farmers in Newfoundland and Labrador that no matter what shape the economy is in, people still have to eat.

And John Sackton, president of Seafoodnews.com, says there's no reason they shouldn't be eating seafood.

In a speech to the province's aquaculture industry, Sackton pointed to retail sales as an opportunity for permanent growth. "If food service is gloomy, retail is the bright spot," he said, adding that everyone has to go to the grocery store. "My argument is that the food industry isn't in the same boat, and shouldn't be painted with the same brush (as banks and auto companies)."

In numbers Sackton presented to the group, overall retail sales in the United States are down more than 11 per cent, but sales at grocery stores are up two per cent. While those numbers include an increase in prices, Sackton pointed out that retail sectors are, if nothing else, showing room for growth.

There's plenty of interest in pre-cooked, or microwavable seafood meals, Sackton said, as long as consumers see that they're getting the value of their dollar in each bite.

Mussels are a perfect example, he said, because many people don't actually know how to cook them in their shells so they'll buy the pre-cooked, frozen product for dinner. Highliner Foods, for example, had a "stellar," year, he says.

Meanwhile, the price at which suppliers sell to supermarkets will have to be adjusted as well.

Sackton told the group that certain stores - Safeway for example - have approached their wholesalers saying if they don't drop their prices the stores will only promote their own in-house brands.

British retailer ASDA, which falls under the Wal-Mart umbrella, has started a hotline to allow customers to make complaints about items they believe are overpriced for their value. And what better way to pressure suppliers to drop prices, Sackton asked, than by bringing suppliers real numbers of customers who believe the product isn't worth what they've been paying.

Meanwhile, it will take plenty of marketing to convince families to have mussels or tilapia more often than once every couple of months, Sackton said. That's where proof of sustainability, "made in Canada" labels and the promise of food security come in, he said.

The consumers' interest in sustainable food won't be diminished because of economic factors, Sackton said.

More than ever the traceability of food is key.

People just don't trust food coming from certain countries right now, Sackton said, and to the benefit of seafood companies in Canada, the made in Canada label.

Within the industry, Sackton said the biggest risk in 2009 is not being unable to find operating capital, but to avoid creating a glut of any species. "Oversupply in this situation is a recipe for problems," Sackton said. "It's everybody fighting to make the market go lower."