Seafood industry gets added-value message

Jeremy Horton

Look to the chickens if you want to grow the seafood industry.

That unusual message was delivered to the Seafood Week conference in Wellington. More than 400 delegates from the industry gathered last week to talk about innovation, changing customer habits and adding value to seafood.

Jeremy Horton, category development director for Young's Bluecrest Seafood, one of Britain's largest seafood companies, told a packed hall about "chickenability".

In 1992 fish overtook beef in British protein consumption rates but poultry, a rare meal 50 years ago, was easily the market leader.

"We mustn't fight with each other. We've got to say seafood's competitor is poultry. We've got to fight for a share of people's stomachs."

The industry could learn from the dramatic rise of chicken as a food choice in the 1970s and 80s by increasing the variety of value-added products and breaking down consumer barriers. He said Young's could process $2585 worth of cod into $6498 worth of frozen fillets, $8335 worth of fish fingers or $27,267 worth of ready-to-cook meals.

Greater product variety would add value and break down customer barriers caused by bones, smell, appearance and texture, he added.

"But the main barrier isn't actually physical, it's mental. It's confidence about dealing with seafood. People want to eat more seafood. They just don't know how."

Yet seafood had greater possibilities than chicken, Horton said.

"With chicken you've just got chicken. With fish you've got 20,000 different species, so the sense of adventure with fish is just incredible and we've got to exploit that."

Although the Kiwi label was an asset, Horton said frozen hoki had struggled when launched in Britain.

The average British consumer spends four minutes in the frozen food section and picks up two items, "so launching new species in frozen foods is not the best place".

Introduction to food service menus, followed by chilled fish in retail stores and finally more price-driven frozen food, was the route to success, he said. "The future is maybe ready-to-eat seafood in the service station ... that's an untapped opportunity. You've got to develop the products that meet the need."

Horton said the British chilled seafood market grew by 12 per cent last year compared to 2 per cent for frozen - a trend not lost on Seafood Industry Council chief executive Owen Symmans.

"The reality is we airfreight about 5 per cent of our exports, worth about 19 per cent of value.

"We've got to look at technology about how we keep fish chilled and fresh longer," Symmans said.

The conference, which integrated Te Ohu Kaimoana Maori fisheries conference, highlighted the need for a strong industry voice.

Acting Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson delivered a message of praise and encouragement but also warnings about self-regulation.

"This is a go-getter, reasonably innovative, reasonably efficient, reasonably competitive industry and it operates for a little country across a very large footprint."

He said $11 million would be invested over the next four years in the fight against illegal seafood harvesting.

"This is a big problem. It is theft and the industry is the victim."

Eight new patrol vessels would be introduced during the next 2 1/2 years, raising routine patrol days from 190 in 2004 to 1500 days each year.

A recently approved strategy for managing the environmental effects of fishing would lead to new standards, but the minister encouraged the industry to police itself.

Seafood Week

* About 90 per cent of seafood industry revenue comes from exports.
* Export earnings for 2003-2004 were $1.2 billion.
* Success of the poultry industry could become a template for future growth.
* Government offers support but warns industry to self-regulate.