WILD SEAFOOD SOURCING NEEDS PLANNING, PANEL SAYS

Mina Williams

SEATTLE (FNS) -- Consumers may be wild about wild seafood, but distribution challenges can drive retailers crazy.

While demand is growing for wild product, getting it safely to stores requires foresight, dedication and, in some cases, creative thinking, according to retailer panelists speaking at the Wild Seafood Exchange here.

"People just want to eat wild salmon," said Keith Harris, director of purchasing for Seattle-based Select Fish, a seafood sourcing business owned by Whole Foods Market. "Distribution is key when offering wild. It starts out with the fisherman. We look to first get a heads up on when the vessels are coming in, what they have, that the fish are well bled and iced, and in what time frame the fish will be at our door. As an air shipper, communication and the ability to get quality fish to our door is key. We have to then get the fish around the country."

To accomplish this task, Harris relies on a direct-to-store logistics system: air shipping from the distribution facility in Seattle with pickups slated for 4 p.m. daily. Some specific items are direct-air shipped to stores out of Anchorage. Harris estimated the additional cost for this service tacks on $1.50 per pound.

"We take every step to maintain the quality of the product. At the distribution facility, we do secondary processing, such as steaking, fillet work and getting roasts ready," said Harris, noting the system is not without risk. Air shipping is expensive enough to require stores to enter minimum orders, and weather is always a factor.

Other retailers use less sophisticated sourcing methods, but are just as dedicated to offering wild product. Chris Thomson, seafood expert for Harvest Foods, Kettle Falls, Wash., makes weekly trips with the company's 24-foot box truck to seafood markets around Seattle. Fish are placed in insulated totes or ice boxes before the truck makes the two-hour journey back to the single-store operation.

Fish is merchandised in the parking lot outside the 20,000-square-foot store, where associates have access to cutting blocks. Whole fish are cut, filleted or steaked out. Should customers wish to freeze the bounty, Harvest Foods' staff will vacuum-seal portions in the back of the meat department.

While Thomson has offered whole sockeye salmon to customers at $2.99 a pound, fillets are available for $1 more. In this way, he is able to offset the cost of the whole fish.

"I can sell 3,000 to 4,000 salmon and halibut each weekend," said Thomson. "If I have 200 or 300 extra pounds of salmon at the end of the weekend, I'll smoke it and sell it for $7 or $8 per pound. That helps to control the shrink."

Despite consumer demand for wild seafood, the panelists agreed that marketing efforts need to be mounted to build on the category's success.

"It has to be made easy to sell wild salmon," said John Speltz, owner, Wild Salmon, Seattle. "We need information and point-of-sale materials to tell the story. It is also important to establish a brand identity, maybe using the name of the vessel or the fisherman's name in the identification. We have to have good seafood managers who can articulate the benefits of each fish to customers."

Panelists also touched on the sensitive issue of pricing.

"For a long time, fishermen took it on the chin with the farm-raised fish in the market," said Harris. "Now, with the positive publicity for wild product, a lot of retailers are not carrying farmed. King salmon is more expensive, for example, and we need to give the consumer a fair value."

"If I have the price so high, I'll get priced out of the market," said Thomson. "I've seen $3 sockeye [salmon] sell at $8. That is a disservice. When you compete against the likes of Wal-Mart, you have to come off that 35% to 40% margin."

Speltz agreed, noting that when prices pass a certain threshold, the retailer loses customers.

"But before you can establish a price, every supplier has to be put into a category for quality," he added.