FROZEN, STORE-BRAND SEAFOOD THAWS PROFIT OPPORTUNITIES

MINA WILLIAMS (FNS)

In the ocean of private label, seafood runs deep.

Retailers are actively seeking out new waters in which to implement store-brand programs, including one of the most complicated in regard to food safety, shelf life and profits. Here, the trend has been toward frozen seafood selections. But they have become a reliable option for operators eager to introduce private label to every fresh foods department.

Nash Finch, Minneapolis, has their Our Family brand of private-label items throughout Center Store. However within the perishables departments, separate store brands have been introduced as signature labels, according to John Paul, director of store brands. In the seafood department, the wholesaler and retail operator has created a signature line under the Seafood Sensation brand.

Items under that banner include a selection of 21 individually quick-frozen offerings, including a variety of shrimp such as tail on, tail off, cooked and raw; plus yellow fin tuna, Atlantic cod, swordfish and halibut fillets and steaks.

Additionally, 10-ounce and 24-ounce shrimp rings are offered complete with cocktail sauce. A Seafood Sensation labeled surimi-based Krab Salad rounds out the offerings.

The line is merchandised adjacent to the fresh case in a frozen bunker display. Fillets and steaks are vacuumed-packaged with an inner seal around each individual item to protect against dehydration.

"We have had overwhelming success with the Seafood Sensations line," said Mike Baker, vice president, perishables. "We are seeing $10 million in retail sales in the first year."

Sales have been such that, in July, Nash Finch plans to expand the Seafood Sensations name to include shelf-stable cocktail and tarter sauces. The sauces will be dual-faced, positioned both in Center Store and at the seafood case.

Associated Grocer-supplied Thriftway units' salmon is given a private-label signature with a controlled label. The Seattle, Wash.-area stores present Bruce Gore-labeled salmon. In-store signage tells the special story of the product, which is line-caught by the Bruce Gore fleet and flash frozen at sea. Each item is labeled with a diamond-shaped Bruce Gore tag.

Fresh whole fish, steaks and roasts are available at supermarket service cases. Frozen IQF skin-packed items are offered in self-service cases.

Wild specie salmon were recently featured at $3.99 for whole fish, $4.99 for steaks, and $5.99 for fillets.

Skokie, Ill.-based Topco Associates is also lending private-label cachet to its bagged cooked and raw shrimp.

While the wholesaler previously offered IQF shrimp under the World Classics brand, this re-launch maintains ultimate flexibility for Topco-supplied operators. The shrimp are offered in one- and two-pound bags under the Food Club label. According to officials, the same pack is available under a corporate brand or member label.

"When you have five, six or seven different retailers together, we can leverage with volume and give retailers items consumers are looking for," said Marc Kurkiewicz, director, branded meat, referring to the Food Club store brand. The offerings were initially introduced last fall, and soon hit a peak during the winter holiday and Lenten seasons.

"We try to keep on top of consumer trends looking for items that cater to time-starved consumers. These consumers want convenience, yet they also want involvement," he said. "They want to have some preparation activities."

Some of the seafood department items Topco has identified as "in demand" by consumers include breaded fish items and skin-packed overwrapped fish fillets.

"Retailers want to create a distinctive segmentation with their private label," said Bruce Axtman, president, The Perishables Group, a Chicago-based consulting and research firm. "But that distinction has to be communicated daily through assortment, pricing, merchandising and promotion."

Private label presents retailers with the opportunity to help retailers create an image, agreed Russ Wolfe, senior vice president perishables.

"We work with private label with individual members as they build a strong tie-in across the entire store. Some want their name on products to additionally differentiate themselves from the competition," he said. "All our retailers want to build loyalty and a relationship with customers. They're looking for ways to give customers a reason to shop at their store. By having their name on a particular item a shopper likes, they are underscoring in the home that to get that item, they have to come back to that particular store."