A lack of consumer knowledge — and finding the time and resources to properly train and educate seafood counter staff — is perhaps the No. 1 challenge facing U.S. retailers when it comes to seafood.
In fact, more than half of the U.S. retailers polled by SeaFood Business for its biennial retail survey cited consumer lack of knowledge among the three biggest challenges they face this year, compared to 40 percent of retailers in 2008. This year, consumer lack of knowledge outranked all other challenges, including rising wholesale prices and consumer price resistance, even during an economic recession.
Please join me on 13 October as I present the results of the 21st SeaFood Business retail survey during a 45-minute webinar. Following a 30-minute presentation of the survey results, Joseph Sabbagh, president of Sax Maritime Associates in Los Angeles, will join me for a 15-minute question-and-answer session in which webinar participants can inquire about the survey results and about retail seafood trends in general. Sabbagh is a retail seafood consultant who has worked with Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats Markets and many other seafood retailers and suppliers over the last three decades.
In addition to the biggest challenges facing seafood retailers, topics covered in the survey include the recession’s effect on seafood sales, full-service vs. self-service seafood and what’s on consumers’ minds.
For more information on the webinar, click here. The webinar is open only to SeafoodSource premium members. Premium membership costs USD 95 a year, which gives users access to all webinars, market reports, audio, video and best-practice guides posted to SeafoodSource. Webinar participants will also receive a copy of the presentation following the webinar.
Later this year, I will also be presenting the results of the SeaFood Business biennial foodservice survey during a webinar, so stay tuned.
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