Snow crab continues to be a retail staple this year thanks to its consistently low pricing, and one U.S. regional grocery chain has capitalized on the trend through promotions, an effective supplier partnership, and marketing efforts aimed at enticing budget-conscious consumers.
As soon as Canadian snow crab prices declined earlier this year, Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.A.-based Fresh Thyme Market, which operates 70 stores in the U.S. Midwest, seized the opportunity by partnering with major U.S. crab importer Direct Source LLC, based in Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.
The grocery chain has worked with Direct Source for years, but this collaboration is unique in that it’s exclusive, according to Fresh Thyme Meat and Seafood Sales, Merchandising, Marketing, and Procurement Lead Jason Resner. Resner told SeafoodSource that from his perspective working with one trusted supplier is much better than bidding multiple seafood vendors against one another.
“If you partner with the right supplier, they share their profit and loss with you and you share it with them,” Resner said. “You work together on how to make [the mutual partnership] the best it can possibly be.”
One of the profitable crab promotions Fresh Thyme implemented after partnering with Direct Source was selling large snow crab clusters for USD 6.99 (EUR 6.36) per pound, and king crab claws and arms for USD 17.99 (EUR 16.36) per pound, leading up to Father’s Day – which took place in the U.S. on 18 June.
“We [Fresh Thyme] expect to see increased sales and volume for meat and seafood items this Father’s Day based on the promotions we will be executing,” Resner told SeafoodSource in June. The better retail prices allowed the chain to “really offer some great values which we weren’t offering last year,” Resner said at the time.
The promotions didn’t stop there.
For Independence Day, which takes place in the U.S. on 4 July, the retailer also promoted snow crab clusters for between USD 5.99 (EUR 5.45) and USD 6.99 (EUR 6.36) per pound, depending on the store. In addition, a contest that included offering gift cards to seafood employees at top-selling stores further boosted crab sales during the holiday.
Fresh Thyme has also hosted “seafood road shows” throughout the summer, which includes mobile ice bins typically stocked with crab and salmon at the front of certain stores on weekends. Seafood staff “actively suggest [products], sell, talk to customers … and offer cooking tips,” Resner said. Staff members aim to highlight the value of crab compared to last year and the high-quality seafood the retailer sources.
”It helps enhance the customer’s experience … and helps us sell more seafood,” Resner said.
As a result of the favorable prices, contests, promotions, and partnership with Direct Source, the company’s overall snow crab sales spiked 800 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same time frame last year, while volume soared 1,500 percent, according to Resner.
Restaurants also haven’t lowered their prices for crab as much as retailers, which is helping to boost sales, Resner said, but with the continually falling prices, the market is now correcting itself.
“You saw some cheaper retail [prices] throughout the summer, which cooled a lot of inventory,” Resner said. “With the law of supply and demand, as inventory was depleted, the cost is now changing.”
By December, snow crab retail prices will likely be around 25 percent higher than they are now, but that “is still going to be super cheap compared to last year,” Resner said.
Regarding other seafood products, shrimp and farmed salmon are also performing well for Fresh Thyme. Retail shrimp prices have not declined as quickly as crab, but there are still lower advertised prices at both Fresh Thyme and its competitors than last year, according to Resner.
“As shrimp costs come down – similar to crab – we are passing that savings through to the customer in order to increase overall seafood consumption at home and not at the restaurants,” he said.
Farmed Atlantic salmon prices are favorable, too, and sales are strong at Fresh Thyme.
Similar to the Direct Source partnership, in early August, Fresh Thyme is partnering with Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-based farmed salmon supplier Camanchaca on a promotion for fresh coho Atlantic salmon from Chile. The average current cost coming into Miami ports is around 30 cents per pound lower than last year around this time, Resner noted, which makes it a great time to capitalize on yet another seafood trend.
Photo courtesy of Fresh Thyme Market
