If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Not the Big Apple, but the big blue box. Yes, retail giant Wal-Mart has become a yardstick of success for the seafood industry. Whether or not Wal-Mart chooses to purchase your products or employ your services is now the ultimate litmus test. It's not all about sales - it's about statements.
A Reuters story published Friday, "Chefs warn on side effects of sushi boom," detailed how the sushi fascination has exploded to the point that some fear a do-it-yourself craze may lead to health risks. Sushi preparation is probably best left in the hands of trained professionals. And since September, Wal-Mart has offered sushi at 90 of its Supercenters, with plans for 400.
Fear not, the door greeter is not filleting the fish. That's up to Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp., whose Southern Tsunami® sushi stalls are conveniently placed in hundreds of grocery stores across the nation. AFC President and Owner Ryuji Ishii told Reuters, "In order to become really mainstream, we have to overcome the Wal-Mart consumers," referring to the challenge of hooking the Heartland on raw fish.
In other news last week, Connecticut businesswoman Cathy Kangas urged Canadian seal hunters to seek a federal buyback of their sealing licenses. Kangas' Coalition for Sealers and Their Fishing Industry believes a spay/neuter program (volunteers, anyone?) is preferable to the government's plans to cull 275,000 harp seals off the coast of Newfoundland. The annual seal hunt, which began Friday, has sparked boycotts of Canadian seafood in recent years. The Humane Society of the United States claims several prominent retailers and restaurateurs among its boycott participants, including Legal Sea Foods, a Boston-based restaurant chain.
What would really make the boycott stick, Kangas says, is if Wal-Mart took part. "It could effectively end the [seal] hunt," she said in a press release. "We are asking Americans to do the right thing and take action by boycotting Canadian seafood and asking their local Wal-Mart, one of the most powerful companies in the United States, to join the boycott."
Is she nuts or is she right? Wal-Mart's extraordinary position comes with an unprecedented responsibility to U.S. consumers and the environment. Has it shirked its obligations when it comes to seafood?
By and large, no. A couple of years ago, Wal-Mart pledged to source only wild seafood bearing the Marine Stewardship Council eco-label and farmed product from facilities audited by the Aquaculture Certification Council. However, the plan was to have 85 to 90 percent of all the seafood it sells be certified by one of the programs within three to five years, a timeline that now looks tenuous.
How big is Wal-Mart? I've been told there are numerous shrimp farms overseas that, essentially, are only operating to service their account. The world depends on Wal-Mart for Everyday Low Prices - and perhaps a lot more than it ever realized.
Thank you,
James Wright
Assistant Editor
SeaFood Business
