The second Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) webinar in its summer series highlighted consumer mindset trends and perceptions surrounding COVID-19 during the recovery phase, with R3 Consulting principals Sharon Ripps and Bill Romania noting significant changes in behavior so far.
During the webinar “Swimming Against the COVID-19 Tide: How Consumers & Seafood are Coping,” Romania called the pandemic’s impact on consumer retail and shopping behaviors “substantial,” positing that because governments and healthcare systems were slow to act, they had a big impact on consumer response.
Ripps highlighted the fact that consumer concern, though declining, is morphing “from just being a public health crisis to one that’s also going to have an economic impact.”
Surveys found that diet is at the top of consumers’ minds when it comes to how to prevent the contraction of coronavirus and/or to prevent the disease from having a serious impact on the body. On top of this, a third of survey respondents reported eating less meat since the start of the coronavirus, and about the same amount said they believed fish could boost immunity or aid in recovery.
Ripps also underscored the fact that consumers are much more likely to consider the environmental impact of foods they’re consuming, something of a side-effect of the coronavirus news cycle.
Boredom and monotony in the kitchen have played a role in consumer behaviors as well, with millennials and Generation Z consumers turning to the digital arena for help in discovering new recipes. GAPP has been ahead of the curve in this regard, having offered online cooking classes with chefs like Seattle Restauranteur Thierry Rautureau.
Although the restaurant industry is in shambles, Ripps pointed out that many pollock qualities – its long frozen shelf-life, its versatility, and its reliability where other protein supply chains have faltered – might be used as an asset to help restaurants moving forward.
“We have a lot to offer foodservice,” she said. “We just need to be able to tell them we’re here for them and we are one of the partners that can really help them on the road to recovery.”
As with the first webinar in the series, Romania pointed out the massive increase in frozen foods purchasing, both at home and abroad. As a result, he noted that freezers were selling at a breakneck pace as well, with a 317 percent increase in year-over-year freezer sales in Great Britain, for example.
“There’s a lot more freezer space out there to fill up with frozen seafood,” he said. “I would describe our situation for pollock and seafood in general as: We have momentum, let’s maintain it.”
GAPP’s next webinar, scheduled for Friday, 19 June, will cover discussing the coronavirus with employees once offices reopen.
Photo courtesy of Diana Taliun/Shutterstock
