Gabriel Viteri is VP of Strategy and Business Development for Acme Smoked Fish Corp., which has its headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y. He started in the seafood industry in 2000 and joined Acme as Director of Quality Assurance and R&D in 2002. After completing his MBA at Stern in 2010, he transitioned to his current role.
SeafoodSource: Last year Acme opened a plant in North Carolina: Talk a little bit about this move and how it fits in with the overall business strategy for the company.
Viteri: The plant in North Carolina opened in February 2015 as part of our overall strategy and commitment to quality and food safety. Increasing our production capacity was another key objective as our company’s growth was outpacing our manufacturing capabilities in New York and Florida. We knew that building a factory from the ground up would be the only chance to get it right.
Building this factory was a real dream come true as we were finally able to employ decades of food safety research and best practices into every detail of the operation. As part of the process, we visited model food manufacturing facilities in Europe and the United States and equipment manufacturers to identify opportunities to implement best practices. Today, I can be confident to say the North Carolina site is likely the most advanced and food safe smoked fish operation in the world.
The company also opened Acme Chile mid-2015. The focus of this operation was to produce high quality and safe raw material for Acme’s U.S. smoked fish operations. We understood that no matter how good a raw material supplier is, it will never have the inherent incentives or understanding to implement food safety and quality standards required to meet the needs of our company. The overall strategy to produce the highest quality smoked fish product was tightly linked to being able to control production from the beginning of the process.
Strengthening the foundation of the business by focusing on food safety and quality also meant having the highest caliber professionals in the industry. Our company now employs teams with extensive experience in the food industry and with advanced degrees in food science, food microbiology and process engineering throughout the various operations.
SeafoodSource: New products generate excitement, but they can also be costly to develop and aren't guaranteed to be successful: What has been Acme's approach to product development? And is there a product or brand success story of which you're especially proud?
Viteri: One of Acme’s strengths is to be able to bring products to market fast to ensure that the cost of failure is minimized and the learning opportunity maximized. Given the niche nature of our category in the United States, incremental innovation that engages existing and new consumers with products that are familiar to them has been important.
A good example of a recent product innovation was the creation of our salmon jerky line, which was anticipated to follow the growing trend of jerky. There is still a lot of work to do to reach the full potential of this line. Another important aspect during the product development life cycle is the need to quickly adapt to changing market circumstances. The jerky line and the commercialization strategy continues to evolve as it finds a place within the multimillion-dollar jerky industry.
SeafoodSource: What do you consider to be the biggest business challenge thus far for Acme,and what did you learn from that experience?
Viteri: One of Acme’s biggest challenges is competing with low cost and low quality smoked fish producers that aren’t equipped to produce safe products. The challenge is somewhat complex in that buyers also need to understand the risk implications of buying products based just on price.
Unfortunately, smoked fish to start is an expensive product where price is often the first barrier that needs to be cleared. The task becomes even more complex as food safety in the eyes of the end consumer is an expectation. In the end, retail, wholesale, and foodservice buyers are the ultimate line of defense to ensure that consumers are protected. Unfortunately, often it will take a recall for buyers to learn the importance of buying from companies that truly make food safety a priority.
SeafoodSource: If there were one thing you could change about the seafood industry as a whole, especially as it relates to the ability to run a successful business, what would it be?
Viteri: I believe that I have stressed the importance of food safety and food technology, but again if I can change our industry as a whole, food safety and quality would be a top priority. If the understanding of food safety and quality improves among our industry, everyone wins.
Our seafood industry is unfortunately way behind other food industries when it comes to science and technology. As an industry, we are as strong as our weakest link. At the same time, I understand the realities of the industry and how difficult it can be for the smaller companies to deal with technical challenges that require resources. Alternatively, there are resources out there that can be extremely useful like many of the university extension programs designed to assist the seafood industry and companies.
SeafoodSource: Given the opportunity to address a room filled with seafood industry leaders such as yourself, what is the one nugget of wisdom you would offer them as your closing remark?
Viteri: Always challenge the status quo and never stop being curious.
