Missing ingredients to a successful seafood industry
Thursday,18 March,2010 11:41:29
I was attracted to the pre-International Boston Seafood Show press on an organization that has a strong background in retailing clothing and sporting equipment, that is now applying their skills and knowledge to the seafood industry.
I was able to sit down and have a great discussion with Linda Bean and have a chat about her Maine lobster business. The organization Linda controls now owns and operates three wharfs buying over three million pounds of lobster in 2009. A believer in "Product of the USA," Bean recently purchased a seafood processing plant in Rockland, Maine, and is now producing cooked and frozen lobster and specialty foods, including her own franchise, Linda Bean's Perfect Maine ™ Lobster Roll, which she hopes will become America's next great sandwich. A lot of thought has gone into this new item, along with the stew/bisque products and it engages new high pressure processing technology.
Not being afraid to be different and bringing an understanding of what consumers want is something that many sectors of the seafood industry need and with Maine Lobster coming off a bad year it is great to see someone with confidence and have the conviction to be putting new items on the market.
Linda clearly has a passion for this business and is proud of the way she looks after the fishermen that support her with their product. She sees them as an important resource and is keen to ensure their survival in the trying times that has been experienced.
Linda is very concerned regarding the future as points out that there is only 20 miles of working waterfront left in Maine and insists this must be protected to ensure the fishermen survive.
Appreciating that it is the person who puts the seafood in their mouth is the most important in the long supply chain is something that the industry has to understand. The thinking that the industry finishes at the end of the wharf has to change so Linda’s involvement is timely and hopefully people and companies like hers can be involved in helping turning around the profitability for all concerned.
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Seafood substitution - the times are changing
Wednesday,17 March,2010 12:48:50
I attended an excellent conference session at the Boston Seafood Show on U.S. government policies and regulations regarding various issues on seafood integrity, organized by William Gergits. The main presenters were David Moreno (GAO) and Steven Wilson (NOAA Fisheries) and the clear message was if you have been used to cheating the system, then you really need to re-think your plans.
Of course issues such as species substitution and short weighting are not just an American problem, they are a global issue. In the U.S., the NFI’s Better Seafood Bureau has made great inroads into these issues and similar work is happening overseas with organizations such as Seafish Authority in the UK and Seafood Services Australia working hard to get these bad habits kicked out of the industry.
In the past, many governments have seen these issues as being beyond them, as they suggested they had nothing to do with food safety, but things are now different. Clearly if you are substituting one species of seafood for another, then your HACCP certificates are null and void – there cannot be transparent traceability if you are cheating in this manner. Like all government, it needs various departments to be working in harmony to get this in order and slowly and surely this seems to be happening in U.S. with CBP, FDA and NMFS having more open communication on these issues.
As Gergits pointed out, the genuine industry people are suffering immensely economically due to seafood substitution.
I am well versed in this area as I have been a major driver of the creation of the Australian Fish Names Standard and I urge you to look here for an understanding of what we do in Australia.
Cheats should not prosper so it is important for everyone in the industry and government to work together on this important issue.
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From Boston: Social responsibility shown by U.S. importers
Tuesday,16 March,2010 10:46:24
I went to a couple of the conference sessions at the International Boston Seafood Show and was impressed with many of the speakers and the achievements that industry has been making.
One session in particular, “Fisheries Improvements: Lessons Learned from US Importers”, was introduced by Howard Johnson (President, H.M. Johnson & Associates) and included speakers: Henry Damone (President, High Liner Foods), Jim Cannon (President, Sustainable Fisheries Partnerships) and Steve Phillips (President, Phillips Foods).
What you get from Steve is a ‘straight from the heart’ passionate story about his company’s involvement in the search for sustainable crab stocks. His desires in this area have taken him down a path where he has inspired other crab importers to join him in consideration of imposing a levy on themselves to ensure the viability of their supplies. Along the way, the lives of people in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. are being changed for the better and they are teaching the fishing fraternity within those countries to ‘fish for the future’.
“It is not socially responsible to disassociate ourselves from fisheries,” Steve highlighted.
The background on the Baltic cod and Russian pollock were also interesting case studies highlighting that the industry simply is not getting credit for its work it does in these difficult areas.
It is easy to close things down and create Marine Parks and No Go Zones, but what are the social implications of these actions? Where are the environmental groups in working with the industry to create partnerships to grow fisheries in a sustainable manner? Isn’t sustainability more than just about the environment? Does it not include social and economic issues?
We have so much excellent independent scientific evidence that the most nutritious protein we can put in our mouth is seafood, so why are we not finding more ways to do what Steve Phillips is pioneering?
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From Boston: What it takes to stay in the seafood business 100 years
Monday,15 March,2010 09:56:09
We all know how hard the seafood business can be, so when I saw the president of a company I personally had never heard of celebrating their 100th year anniversary, I wanted to hear about how this can be achieved.
When you add that the business operates from Minneapolis, a city that strikes me as not being a seafaring metropolis, and is involved in processing, a notoriously tough industry, you have to admire what the Olsen Fish Company has achieved.
Chris Dorf is the current president of the company and he says their longevity and success, “is not rocket science and has been mainly due to a commitment to quality and customer relationships.” A simple explanation yet how many businesses fail?
The business has been in Herring, Lutefisk and Scandinavian products all its life and clearly has found a niche in the seafood area processing traditional specialty products. They continue to use granulated sugar and fresh sliced onions for their wine sauce and fresh whole milk sour cream for their cream sauce products. Sales are mainly driven by domestic demand with consistent supplies and standards. No doubt over the years they have resisted the urges that take businesses out of their area of expertise.
The Olsen Fish Company (booth #240) has been a regular exhibitor at IBSS for the least 6-7 years and Chris sees this as a great way to ‘keep in contact with his customers’ whom he says travel from all over America to come to Boston.
Happy Birthday Olsen Fish Company and may you have many more!
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Arrived in Boston and raring to go
Sunday,14 March,2010 10:08:46
Despite the wind, rain and cold you can feel the excitement in the air as the 2010 International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS) and Seafood Processing America is about to start.
I have worked my way through the Aquaculture America Conference in San Diego (almost 3,000 delegates) and then through Washington, D.C., where I ’bumped’ into President Obama. When I say ‘bumped’ - what actually happened was he delivered a speech in the same hotel as I was staying at and I did get to see him in the flesh but ‘bumped’ maybe the wrong word? Anyway, here I am in Boston!
The weather is not inviting but the people have been and I have not made this entire journey for the weather – if I just wanted the weather (16-25 degrees Celsius and sunny expected today in Melbourne) I could have stayed at home.
I arrived in Boston yesterday lunchtime travelling with Professor Mike Dillon, President of IAFI, and we caught up with some friends for lunch – had the first clam chowder of the trip. We then had a meeting with Marine Institute (St.John’s, Newfoundland) and were invited to the Newfoundland/Labrador Pre-IBSS party. The music was playing (memories of Ireland come flooding back); the food was an excellent promotion of what this important part of the world brings to the seafood community. We had to keep moving for a pre-organized dinner engagement at Legal Sea Foods – I will NOT come to Boston without visiting one the Legal Sea Foods restaurants.
We had an interesting array of guests one from Austria, Alaska, California, Florida, Grimsby and myself from Melbourne. Great seafood, excellent service, wonderful conversation, terrific company! This is what IBSS offers us all…..oh and then there is the business…let us not forget that. I wonder how much business is transacted as a result of shows like IBSS? It is probably impossible to calculate but it must be immense.
I have done some planning and made appointments. I have heaps of people to see, things to do and I am raring to go – look out for me at the show and say hi!
P.S. What a bad night to lose an hour sleep due to daylight savings!
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