Ruth Carter, marketing and sales manager for Alaska’s Kwik’pak Fisheries, talks to SeafoodSource about the launch of the company’s latest new product, Keta Candy. Carter discusses the idea behind launching the traditionally hot-smoked salmon product, how it was introduced to the market and what type of feedback it has received so far.
Grandin: What’s the vision behind Keta Candy?
Carter: The vision is simple: We created Keta Candy as a way to share our very special salmon with as many people as possible. Keta Candy is a traditional Yup’ik preparation and is one of the many recipes that Yup’ik fishing families rely on to preserve the salmon they catch in the summer so they can enjoy it during the long, cold winters.
We’ve also studied market trends and listened to our customers, who asked for an all-natural “smoked” product that health-conscious consumers can enjoy. The sweetener is simply brown sugar, made into a brine with sea salt. That’s it — no preservatives other than hot smoke and brine. What’s fun about Keta Candy is that it follows the Yup’ik heritage and tradition. Traditionally, Yup’ik families all develop their own smokehouse flavors by using different woods. That’s the secret ingredient here.
What is your market strategy with this product?
Our go-to market strategy is to build loyal customers for whom the story behind the product is as important as the product itself. We have also decided to introduce the product in a demo situation, either at a food or seafood show or in-store. There are so many so-called “smoked” products on the market and ours is very different and very special. You have to taste Keta Candy to understand how special it is. Our key buyers [currently] are natural foods grocery stores, but we are just beginning to introduce this exciting new product to the market.
Were there any challenges with the product launch?
We did a soft launch in March at the International Boston Seafood Show and again in May at the Food Marketing Institute meeting in Las Vegas. We were pleasantly surprised by the many people who kept returning to our booth to sample the Keta Candy. The challenge is to differentiate ourselves and our products from the many choices that are out there. As far as we know, ours is unique in the category of value-added/smoked-salmon products, however.
Talk about Kwik’pak and its mission as a company. How this product fits in with that mission?
As a company, our mission is to help create jobs and economic opportunities in one of the poorest regions of the country, the Yukon Delta area. We are part of the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association (YDFDA), a Community Development Quota organization. We work with the fishers of the Yukon Delta to help them constantly improve their handling practices, so that the extraordinary fish from the Yukon River gets to market in the highest quality form possible.
Do you hope to launch similar products?
Yes, we are already working on this.
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