Spotlight On: Clear Springs Foods

Ideal growing conditions, combined with a commitment to quality and innovation, have made Clear Springs Foods one of the world’s largest producers of rainbow trout.

To get a better understanding of Clear Springs Foods, it is important to first find out why the company is based in Buhl, Idaho.

After all, wouldn’t a company that produces about 26 million pounds of rainbow trout more likely be located much closer to the ocean or a major lake, not a small city in southern Idaho?

“I am asked that question a lot,” says Don Riffle, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Clear Springs. “And the answer is simply, the proximity to the Snake River Plain Aquifer, which is an underground aquifer that stretches from the Teton Mountains in Wyoming to south central Idaho. It has hundreds of exposed springs along the Snake River Canyon wall with a small percentage suitable for supplying copious amounts of water to support our trout farms. This pure spring water has two attributes that are perfect for raising trout: it is always 58 degrees, which is the perfect temperature for raising trout, and it is highly oxygenated, which rainbow trout need.”

While the location makes this company unique it is not the only thing that sets them apart. Beyond Clear Springs’ large product line of 100% Guaranteed Clear•Cuts Fillets and value-added trout products, Riffle emphasizes how the company  built a solid reputation over the years as a friend of the environment and how seriously its managers take their roles as guardians of the environment and producers of quality fish products.

With Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations enacted in Idaho as early as 1972, Clear Springs has been at the forefront of environmental stewardship.

“We are extremely proud of the fact that we are an environmentally conscious company, which has worked very hard to make sure we are good stewards of the world we live in,” says Riffle. “Clear Springs is one of the first companies to have a water quality discharge permit from the EPA. We are also proud of the fact that the Monterey Bay Aquarium has selected us as a ‘best choice’ in terms of sustainability.”

The company’s efforts are supported by its state-of-the-art Research and Development Center, which monitors water quality in the springs and the Snake River, provides an array of fish health services to the farms and maintains an active research program directed at further reducing environmental impact.

Trout’s value to the consumer

Riffle is not shy talking about the many benefits of trout, including its mild flavor, ability to adapt to many cuisines and cooking ease.

“People can cook it up in as little as six minutes,” he says. “Trout is very popular and very recognizable. There are very few people who don’t know what rainbow trout is. Plus, it is a mid-priced fish that is priced similar to salmon.”

In addition to Boneless Fresh Clear•Cuts Fillets, Clear Springs offers tray pack value-added products, such as macadamia-coconut mahi mahi, parmesan crusted trout and tortilla-crusted swai.

The price point, taste and versatility of trout are making the fish much more popular these days, leading more retailers to include various types of value-added trout to their fish selection. The end result, Riffle says, is that more visibility, whether through the media or in-store, will lead to more trial by consumers.

“Expanding the reach of our product is extremely important to our business strategy in the future,” Riffle says. “We want to keep increasing the awareness of this product and work with our retail customers to grow trout sales through their stores.”

Clear Springs has a multi-prong strategy to grow awareness and sales. It includes populating the Clear Springs website with recipes and putting the same recipes on Pinterest as well as links to QR codes imprinted on POS to help assist consumers in choosing the perfect one. Also, Clear Springs is consistently running ads with its retailers to encourage consumer trial of trout products.

Trout’s popularity is growing due to its nutritional value. Clear Springs sees this as another opportunity to reach consumers, creating healthy, flavorful dishes anyone can make.

“It is well known that more people want to eat fish because they know it is a healthy protein choice,” Riffle says. “The FDA is releasing new guidelines that call for consumers to eat seafood at least twice a week. Our job is to make the consumer aware of this and to offer them the recipes needed to properly prepare trout. Many consumers say they want to buy trout, but they don’t know how to prepare it. We want to assist them in making this easy.”

Clear Springs encourages its retailers to sell its trout products by the “each,” meaning specific sizes as opposed to by the pound.

“We believe that psychologically it is easier for the consumer to identify with the product and prepare it. One of our retailers has seen a nearly 20% increase in volume using this strategy. We have three sizes that allow the retailer to choose a perfect price point,” Riffle says.

As for the many benefits of Clear Springs itself, Riffle points to the fact that the company is a 100% vertically integrated trout producer.

“We own our trucks and deliver fish to every major market in the country twice a week,” he says. “On top of that, all of our products are produced in the U.S., which is quite unique given the fact that 80% to 90% of the fish in a typical fresh fish case comes from outside the country.”

The fact that the company is employee-owned might make a difference, too. The company was founded by Ted Eastman in 1966 with one trout farm and soon expanded to include a small processing facility. The company was sold to its employees in 2000, in a leveraged buyout led by Larry Cope, who joined the company in 1973 as general manager. Cope has guided the company for more than 40 years and serves as president and CEO. Under Cope’s leadership Clear Springs has been able to pay off its ESOP debt and continues to grow with the recent addition of three new farm locations.

“We see a great future ahead of us,” says Riffle. “Our job is to get people interested in eating more fish and trout in particular. And, we have to make it easier for them to take the product home from the supermarket and prepare it.”