Bumble Bee has made it easy for consumers to find and share recipes via social, other digital platforms, and with influencers who share same creativity for cooking with seafood.
It’s All Good
It’s also important for retailers to bear in mind that there’s been double-digit growth across all seafood categories — fresh, frozen and shelf-stable — and to factor that into their sales strategies.
“Millions of new and lapsed buyers tuned to the shelf-stable seafood category to ensure they had nutritious and delicious food on hand in a period of uncertainty,” observes Dan Hofmeister, SVP of brand marketing at San Diego-based Bumble Bee, perhaps best known for its canned tuna. “In addition to growth across our shelf-stable offerings, we have been pleasantly surprised by how much we are seeing our Anova line of frozen ahi products grow. Prior to COVID-19, the majority of our Anova sales came from foodservice. We have seen that shift, and now more than 60% of our Anova sales are in grocery. We attribute that to a shift in how consumers are satisfying their desire for restaurant-quality, sustainably sourced ahi.”
Rather than changing up its product assortment in response to the pandemic, Bumble Bee took another route. “The consumer shifts we have made have been predominantly to our consumer communication,” says Hofmeister. “We are committed to making it easier for consumers to find and share recipes via social, other digital platforms, and influencers who share the same passion and creativity for cooking with seafood. It clearly is filling a consumer need, as we are seeing close to triple-digit increases in engagement and following on our channels.”
Hofmeister also offers some recommendations for retailers to highlight seafood products.
“As consumers increase purchase size per trip to limit shopping trip frequency, retailers can help their shoppers by prominently displaying relevant shelf-stable seafood products — particularly multipacks — where they are easy to find,” he suggests. “We also recognize that consumer engagement in the category is growing as at-home cooking increases. We would encourage and support finding ways to balance that need for convenience with shoppers’ natural desire to explore new items and new ways to prepare foods. AI online — and even in store — can support these needs. For seafood, because there is so much cooking and preparation being done, we would suggest continuing to lean into sharing of recipes and cross merchandising with complementary products like clams and pasta.”
Now They’re Cooking
Indeed, as Hofmeister mentions, a key component of continued engagement with consumers on seafood is to make sure they have the knowledge they need when they venture into the kitchen to cook their purchases.
Megan Rider, domestic marketing director at the Juneau-based Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) notes that “the Alaska seafood industry works with retailers to help educate shoppers on the best and easiest ways to prepare seafood. Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI)’s Cook it Frozen! campaign provides retailers with recipes, how-to videos and other materials to educate the masses of consumers now cooking more often at home on how to prepare seafood directly from frozen, for delicious meals in a matter of minutes.”
According to Rider: “We expect that at-home seafood consumption will remain steady even after the pandemic is over, as consumers have gotten more familiar with home cooking techniques. Alaska producers are continuing to adapt to changes in the supply chain in order to meet increased demand at retail for the growing number of consumers eating wild Alaska seafood at home.”
Ready to Grow
However, since not everyone is going to blossom into a confident preparer of seafood meals, whether using fresh or frozen ingredients, ready-to-eat and -cook (RTE/RTC) meals will remain important.
“In terms of assortment, items that are either pre-cooked or can go directly from package to oven will help expand to customers who are not usual seafood purchasers,” says Bill Hueffner, VP of marketing and development for Clackamas, Ore.-based Pacific Seafood, which offers value-added products with easy preparation instructions. “Beyond RTE/RTC products, programs that educate consumers on preparation methods help drive sales. To support our retail partners, we have several POS options, including window clings, recipe books, videos and more. We also provide product training to retail associates and recently created a proprietary education program for retail partners to become Certified Seafood Professionals, allowing them to better assist customers who are unfamiliar preparing and purchasing seafood.”
Hueffner predicts: “We expect a continued demand for approachable and easy seafood preparations. Post-pandemic, we see continued growth for RTE/RTC products in particular, along with a reimagined fresh case with more grab-and-go items. As consumers become more comfortable with seafood options, we anticipate they will branch out beyond their normal salmon and shrimp dishes by sampling less familiar, but just as delicious and sustainable, species such as black cod, Dover sole and rockfish.”
Farm Fresh
One segment to pay particular attention to is that of farm-raised seafood, which, according to Guy Pizzuti, business development director — seafood at Publix, people are buying more of since the pandemic. Bluehouse brand farm-raised salmon from Miami-based Atlantic Sapphire is sold at more than 200 area Publix stores.
“During the pandemic, for those that are still uncomfortable with imported seafood, the local aspect can play a major role in the customer’s comfort level,” says Pizzuti. “Long-term benefits would come from the improved availability of seafood, job creation in the local market and reduced carbon footprint due to it being a local product. Atlantic Sapphire’s Bluehouse salmon is local to Miami and leverages the region’s saltwater aquifers.”
Even after the current crisis is over, however, farm-raised seafood is poised for growth. “The demand for seafood is anticipated to increase by 70% by 2050, [and] aquaculture will play a critical role in filling that demand,” he explains. “As you look at existing aquaculture operations around the world, production growth must come from increased efficiency. The growth that is available from farm expansion is limited. We believe that growth from the aquaculture segment will come from land-based operations.”
Expanding the Pie
Whatever the future brings, retailers and retailers are committed to ensuring that consumers continue to see grocery stores as primary seafood destinations.
“Our hope is that we will have expanded the seafood pie and not just taken a bigger piece for a period in time,” observes Publix’s Brous. “Depending on the timing of a return to ‘normal,’ we could see some consolidation on the supply side, especially in the smaller distributor/wholesaler segment that was focused solely on foodservice. I would also see those that were foodservice focused seeking to expand and get a foothold in retail to provide some stability and diversification to their portfolio.”
Looking ahead, Hofmeister describes Bumble Bee’s mission in the following terms: “Our job as a branded supplier is to make sure we watch and deeply understand what the needs of the consumers are going to be for the next ‘new normal,’ and from there develop products and packaging to best serve our consumers.”
He adds: “Our belief is that consumers are rediscovering the delicious benefits of seafood. We don’t see that changing.”