Baltimore, Md.-based Phillips Foods, known for distributing its crab cakes and pasteurized crab meat to U.S. retail outlets, has recently experienced growth in sales, fueled in part by convincing well-meaning NGOs not to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to crab meat suppliers.
As grocery chains have increased their seafood sustainability programs, some have become leery about using crab meat imported from Asia and India, based on the advice of their partnering NGOs. For example, Whole Foods Market has a policy of not using crab meat from Asia, according to John Baxter, VP of retail/club sales and marketing, for Phillips.
In a recent interview with SeafoodSource, Baxter said he understands the concern, but the real problem is the NGOs are “red-lighting” an entire processing company based on one product that company might be sourcing from one country. Those same processors, he said, may be sourcing other products from approved countries.
“You have NGOs that are not approving certain countries, such as India and Thailand, due to their FIPs [Fishery Improvement Programs] not moving along at a pace that is satisfactory,” Baxter said. “We have been working with the NGOs to help better inform their clients that, if a manufacturer is willing to ship to the customer just product that is produced from the approved countries, it is okay to work with them. The whole company shouldn’t be red-lighted.”
Phillips’ executives are taking a number of additional steps to grow sales of their crab products, along with new frozen Seafood Skillets “meals for two” and its Soup for One gluten-free soup line, nationally. “We continue to push west and open up new retailers and channels of distribution, from conventional retail to specialty retail outlets,” Baxter said. Phillips recently added distribution through Safeway East, Cincinnati, Ohio-based Jungle Jim’s and Oklahoma City, Ok.-based Braum’s. Phillips’ products are also in several new independent grocery stores via partnerships with distributors such as AWG and Tony’s Fine Foods.
Recent retail promotions that helped boost sales of Phillips’ products include a “Seafood for a Year” contest with Ahold and recipe contests with Harris Teeter. “Ultimately, we are trying to utilize marketing spends with [retailers’] customer loyalty programs, rather than market FSI –free-standing inserts] drops,” Baxter said.
