Marcy Bemiller is the founder of Candor Consulting and Candor Seafood in Key Largo, Florida.
SeafoodSource: Why did you decide to found Candor?
Bemiller: I’ve been in the seafood business for just about 30 years, starting with Delta Pride Catfish as a broker and then a regional sales manager. I worked for some of the best companies in the industry, both in wild and farm-raised seafood—Delta Pride, Trident Seafoods, and Marine Harvest. My first sales consulting job was with Sano Seafoods, where I eventually became the president of the North American division.
I founded Candor Consulting and Candor Seafood out of a necessity I saw in the industry. For years, I’d been fielding questions from people inside and outside the United States such as: How do I break into this market? What type of audits or certifications do I need? How do you sell to foodservice or retail or club stores or national accounts and who should I sell and what type of product will sell? The answers to these questions are rarely the same. If I didn’t know, I’d find out and, as my knowledge grew, my contacts grew and my value grew to the point it became a business.
Candor Consulting was supposed to be my “exit strategy,” but I had the opportunity to make it much more than that when my client asked me to start Candor Seafood. Candor Consulting spans the entire spectrum from the source of the fish to the processing plant to sales strategies. Then, if our clients’ product fits into the Candor Seafood business model, we become their importer, sales, and marketing arm in North America. If it doesn’t, depending on the business strategy developed for the client, we may advise them to open their own operation in North America and I turn them over to the Candor CFO Services and Business Solutions division, which is run by B.J. Militello.
SeafoodSource: Outside of value-added products, seafood is still very much a commodity business. What challenges do you face in creating brand awareness for your customers?
Bemiller: At Candor, we focus on the quality of the product and what sets our product apart from the competition, so we are not just a “me-too” commodity that sells on price. Then it’s our job to tell the story and inform the customer. One of the biggest challenges is educating the end-consumer as to why [a] product is the best choice. There are many distinguishing quality factors that make or break your final product, including sustainability, where and how the product is fished or farmed, advanced certifications, specifications, and packaging. I do my best to make sure that if my customer puts my product on their menu or in their store that their staff will be fully informed of these attributes and their customers will come back for more because of the consistency of the product and the awareness of the employees. I also believe, especially if you’re dealing with an emerging species, that it’s important to sample your product and let people taste it, because not all fish is equal.
SeafoodSource: Why is it important to associate a brand or origin story with a seafood item that appears in a retail case or on a restaurant menu?
Bemiller: As I mentioned, the fish’s story is what sets you apart. For instance, Kuhlbarra barramundi out of Singapore is open-ocean, pen-raised. It is Best Aquaculture Practices-certified and the fish is raised in salt water with no hormones or antibiotics. If I didn’t know that story, I wouldn’t want to eat it, let alone import it and sell it. Knowing barramundi comes from saltwater makes all the difference to me and to the consumer.
Another example is the new Dutch yellowtail from Kingfish-Zeeland [from] a recirculating aquaculture system farm from egg-to-harvest. The farm uses organic feed, continuously recirculating clean water, no need for antibiotics or hormones, has no risk of parasites, runs on renewable energy (wind, solar and bio gas), plus the solid waste is filtered out and used as organic fertilizer and the wastewater goes out to sea cleaner than it came in.
People want to know where their food comes from, they want to feel good about it.
SeafoodSource: Your website mentions a focus on sustainability, certification, and exceeding safety standards for the companies with which you work. Are you finding most producers are making this a priority nowadays? And how do you move them along that path if they aren't there yet?
Bemiller: Candor Consulting understands and communicates sustainability issues, traceability importance, certification processes, and how to comply and even exceed these standards. Not all producers make these a priority, even today. Let’s face it, there are still companies out there that just buy on price. When focusing on lowest price, certifications and other quality standards may not matter. The only way to go from Candor’s consulting division to work with Candor Seafood is to either have superior quality, certifications, and third-party audits, or be on the path to them and I will guide their team along the way. I recently had to present to a corporate board of directors on the importance of being BAP-certified; they were excited by the possibilities once I compared who they are selling to now versus who they could be selling to if they follow Candor’s strategic plan.
SeafoodSource: What do you find most satisfying about your job?
Bemiller: I love this job because I’m helping companies be the best they can be, provide the best food for the consumer, all while helping to make sure we have food for our children and our children’s children. I feel like I’m doing my part and I am very blessed to be able to do it.
SeafoodSource: If you weren't in the seafood industry, what would you be doing?
Bemiller: I love to mentor and I’m an entrepreneur at my core like my father, aunt, grandfather and his father. I’m not sure what industry I’d be in, but it would have to be something I love and believe in. My other passions are my family, friends, and animals. I have a real potential to be a crazy dog lady. Animal rescue is close to my heart; I would spend time raising money for animal rescue and fostering more rescue dogs for sure.
SeafoodSource: What are three things people would be surprised to know about you?
Bemiller: I have an amazing group of women I count on in the seafood industry. We call ourselves the Sea Sirens and we are very close.
The vice president of my company is my husband, Jim Kozubal. He is a military veteran and has more than 20 years of experience in IT, sales, and management across industries that help provide strategic direction.
I live in the Florida Keys and my favorite thing to do is paddleboard with my dogs, Floyd and Cayo.
