In nearly every fish market and supermarket perishable purchasing department, the cry rang out loud and clear in 2013: High prices on shrimp and fish are hurting business and smarter ways of sourcing, utilizing and selling seafood are needed to remain competitive.
As a result, many stores are implementing new promotional programs and sourcing initiatives in an effort to boost sales in 2014.
“The biggest challenges we faced were rising prices — but not availability of good, quality fish — and competition,” said Mike Monahan, owner of Monahan’s Seafood Market in Ann Arbor, Mich. “For a town of this size, it is surprising that we have two Whole Foods Markets and a couple of new high-end grocery stores. They sell a lot of fish out of those two Whole Foods stores.”
Seafood executives at Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets, which operates 1,080 stores, say that product cost and availability, along with their consumers’ concerns about imported products, were the top operating challenges the retailer faced in 2013.
While shrimp supply and pricing was the biggest thorn in Publix’s side last year, the retailer ran into “general supply issues, especially getting quantity to our specifications,” said Maria Brous, a spokesperson for Publix. However, the Southeastern retailer implemented several programs to boost efficiencies and reduce shrink in 2013 that it will carry into 2014.
Click here to read the full story that ran in the January issue of SeaFood Business >
