Jacob Valleau is business development manager at Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-based Blue Star Foods, which is a provider of pasteurized refrigerated blue swimming crab.
SeafoodSource: What is your background and how you got into the seafood industry?
Valleau: I always say, “I didn’t choose the fish life, the fish life chose me.” I started working in the seafood industry when I was a teenager as a fish packer at LusAmerica’s processing facility in Fife, Washington. I would scrub the floors of the freezer, clean the gutting gutters when they clogged, you know — the fun stuff. At that time, my father David Valleau worked upstairs as a VP of sales. After I graduated college, I got my first office job in seafood sales and marketing. Before joining Blue Star Foods, I did content marketing and product development for Rubicon Resources.
SeafoodSource: What are your main duties as Blue Star's business development manager?
Valleau: My chief responsibility is to prepare the company for the changing trends in buying behaviors among both consumers and B2B buyers. Much of that has to do with brand building and marketing strategy. Brands that resonate with consumers are going to thrive in this next phase of the global seafood industry. We are doing this by leveraging social media, improving our sales copy, updating our website and utilizing relevant technologies that give us a competitive advantage. I also manage several sales accounts.
SeafoodSource: What have you been most excited about undertaking since you've joined the company?
Valleau: Most companies struggle to talk about themselves. That’s typically because executive teams have a knowledge of their products that dwarfs the average person. This is a phenomenon known as the “curse of knowledge.” My favorite (and most challenging) undertaking has been revising our sales and sustainability marketing materials to be more easily understood and resonate emotionally. Overhauling our website was my most intensive project so far.
SeafoodSource: How does your status as a millennial impact or influence your approach to your job?
Valleau: Being 25, I grew up with the internet. I made my first website for a class project in junior high school. I don’t remember a world without social media. One way I fit this generational model is that I want to work for a company that has a vision and purpose that will benefit the world. That is one reason why I chose to work for Blue Star Foods.
SeafoodSource: There's been a lot of focus on sustainability and social equity issues within the industry. What specific actions would you like to see the industry take or continue doing to move things forward in these areas?
Valleau: I’m very proud of what Blue Star Foods is doing to improve both ocean health and small fishing communities. A significant part of our 2019 marketing plan is showing the improvements that are happening in the rural fishing communities where we source our crab meat. Every company has maybe 10 seconds to convince a customer that they are trustworthy. Letting an eco-label speak for you only makes sense if the logo is ubiquitous and fully understood in that market segment. Ultimately, consumers are going to be able to tell which companies are green washing and which are actively improving the communities and the environment. Customers are beginning to say “show me.”
SeafoodSource: When you get together with others within the industry, what's the major discussion topic these days?
Valleau: Major topics of discussion include sustainability issues and themes of consolidation in the industry.
SeafoodSource: What are three things people might be surprised to know about you.
Valleau: I used to be allergic to fish (thankfully I outgrew it).
I was on an episode of the TV show “Gilmore Girls.”
My most prized possession is the meat smoker my fiancée got me for my birthday.
