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Weekly UpdatesMoving a product to market starts with coming up with a good product. The Alaska seafood industry, with an eye toward consumer trends, has mastered using the Alaska brand name to successfully market its products.
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, has been working hard to brand the Alaska name, with the purpose of not only increasing the usage of Alaska seafood, but increasing the appreciation for it. Alaska seafood is one of the strongest brand names in the world, and has prepared the way for people to pay a premium for the brand name.
DINING OUT
Many of Alaska seafood products find their way into restaurants as more than half of the seafood in the country is eaten in restaurants with the majority of it in chain restaurants. ASMI conducted research to find out how Alaska seafood stacked up. It was found that more seafood is being consumed now than a few years ago, most of this due to the growing awareness of the health benefits of seafood as well as the availability of seafood. According to Laura Fleming, public relations director at ASMI, 58 percent of adults eat more fish and seafood at chain restaurants than they did two years ago. "It's a healthy trend," she says. "This data demonstrates to perspective partners that they should menu Alaska seafood. Alaska branding motivates sales. The Alaska seafood brand is the second most popular food brand on the menus of the top 500 restaurant chains in America."
HEART SMART
Americans are looking for a healthy meal that is nutritious, low in saturated fat, and high in the heart-healthy Omega-3s. "Americans are looking for heart-healthy offerings," explains Fleming. She points to the quick-service sectors that are looking to respond to consumer's desires for healthier products. So, in an effort to market Alaska seafood, many seafood companies here are using Alaska's reputation in their marketing efforts. The unique appeal of Alaska-caught fish is that the fish are wild and natural, unlike farmed fish where fish are raised in captivity.
PURE AND FRESH
Alaska offers wild-caught seafood from pure water in a clean environment, which is a huge benefit for those in Europe and Asia who want assurance that they're eating healthy and pure products. "We offer delicious, healthy natural seafood that matures in the wild at a natural pace, gets lots of exercise so its texture is good and firm, and swims in clean, cold water that gives it purity," explains Fleming.
Wild-caught Alaska salmon, whitefish varieties, and shellfish mature at a natural pace and swim freely in the pristine waters off Alaska's rugged 34,000-mile coastline. The flavors and textures of Alaska seafood are known-and prized-around the world. Because Alaska seafood species feed on their natural diet of marine organisms and annually migrate to the cold North Pacific, Alaska seafood is characterized by rich color, texture and flavor.
To appeal to the food-service sector, Alaska's seafood industry pushes its sustainability to get its message out. Effective, precise managing of Alaska's fisheries promises they're productive, sustainable, clean and healthy-as mandated by the State of Alaska. In fact, Alaska is the only state that has written conservation laws into its constitution. "We recognize it's the footprint of the company and of the industry," says John van Amerongen, a marketing communications specialist at Trident Seafoods. "We are in a fortunate position here in Alaska that we can push the message that our stocks are constantly being measured and monitored and we can ensure our consumers that the seafood they're buying today will be here tomorrow." Alaska's sustainable fish supply makes the state a good business partner for the long haul.
PROMOTING THE PRODUCT
With every partnership, comes value. ASMI helps bring value by providing educational materials, recipes, menu-concept development, photographs and artwork, and other resources to restaurant chains and retail grocery stores, both domestically and abroad. "We train chefs and seafood-counter managers in how to use Alaska seafood and are doing specific promotions with them," says Fleming. "This creates opportunities in the marketplace for our products."
Alaska's largest international export market is Asia, particularly Japan, followed by the European Union, Australia/New Zealand, Mexico and Canada. Recently, ASMI found a potential interest from Russia and will be doing their first trade show in Russia this fall.
Another way the Alaska seafood industry markets its products is by paying close attention to the needs of consumers. Today's consumers want convenience. Many chefs around the world-both restaurant chefs and those who do the cooking at home-don't have the time, money or butchering skills necessary to prepare seafood. There are a lot of variables that go into cutting an entire fish from whole head into individual portions such as pulling pins and cutting it without wasting trim or creating a mess-an expensive mess-in the kitchen.
COOKING CONVENIENCE
With this in mind, some of the major seafood companies in Alaska have developed a way to make their seafood products convenient for all Americans and other countries to enjoy. "There's been a large number of new products being introduced, including boneless, skinless seafood portions in a resealable poly bag that can go right from the freezer into the saute pan; there's no need for thawing," says Fleming. "This is a tremendous convenience item. "Because these products are frozen only once, the quality isn't compromised and all the characteristics are protected."
Trident Seafood is one company that has paid close attention to this drive for convenience and recently introduced RediGrilled Alaskan salmon fillets. Trident Seafood's concept was simple-to slice wild ocean-caught Alaska salmon fillets into uniform 4-once portions and fully cook them by flame-searing each portion and cooking it in a lightly seasoned marinade to enhance the grilled flavor without overpowering the moist natural qualities of the fish. Immediately after cooking, the fillets are flash frozen in vacuum packages to retain all of their ocean-fresh flavor until they're ready to be thawed. The consumer only has to thaw the fillet and then it can be incorporated into various hot or cold salmon recipes such as salmon salads, seafood tacos, spring rolls, tortilla wraps, pastas and pita pockets.
"We're fortunate to be vertically integrated and able to track our products 'from the source to the plate.' It's no accident that it's our company motto at Trident and it's very important to our customers," explains van Amerongen. "More and more diners and retail customers want to know where their seafood comes from and we're fortunate to be able to track what's on the plate all the way back to the ocean-to the facility that bought the fish and in some cases back to the individual vessel that caught the fish. It's that sort of traceability that allows us to assure our customers that they're getting the fish they ordered."
Another product Trident Seafood began marketing was their new twist on an old favorite: fish sticks. The company re-invented this product, hoping to get it on more menus, by using 100 percent Alaska pollock and lightly breading it so that it can be baked (instead of deep fried) and it would retain the light, crispy texture of the fish stick, while eliminating some of the fat that comes from deep frying. Their product, dubbed the Ultimate Fish Stick, is kid-friendly due to its finger-food attribute, which can be dipped in a variety of sauces. "We listen to our customers and work with them and our R&D staff to develop the kinds of seafood products that the customers want to buy," explains van Amerongen. "Moving product to market starts with coming up with a good product. You can move it much further if you have a better product than you had yesterday."
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