BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – The Gulf Seafood Marketing Coalition (Coalition) celebrated its second year at the International Boston Seafood Show by hosting a panel for retailers to understand how the Coalition can help them sell more Gulf Coast seafood. The Coalition – comprised of the Gulf States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida – provides a unified, seamless approach to promoting Gulf Coast seafood, truly allowing a “rising tide to lift all boats.”
Through retail collaboration, the Coalition can provide customized programs, media promotion, training and traceability services to help retailers increase their Gulf Coast seafood sales, as well as ensure consumers have the opportunity to buy the product outside of the Gulf coast.
“Gulf seafood is not only wildly fresh and exceptionally flavorful, our seafood has a distinctive taste and firm texture that consumers ask for by name,” said Chris Nelson, chairman of the Gulf Seafood Marketing Coalition and vice president of Bon Secour Fisheries in Bon Secour, Ala. “Plus, it’s always grown and harvested naturally with sustainable practices, so consumers can feel good about enjoying our seafood.”
Retailer Tools
Customized promotional programs allow retailers to personalize their approach to selling Gulf seafood to reach the maximum amount of consumers. The Coalition has utilized tactics such as sampling events, customized branded point-of-sale (POS) materials, brand partnerships and leave-behind collateral pieces. Extensive resource guides and training information to assist in accurately discussing Gulf Coast seafood with consumers are available for download via EatGulfSeafood.com. The Coalition’s easy-to-understand guide can walk retailers through best-practices from selecting, storing and selling our fresh, delicious Gulf Coast seafood.
H-E-B Grocery Partnership
The Coalition is currently partnering with 53 H-E-B grocery stores in Texas to increase sales of Gulf Coast shrimp in Texas during the Lent promotional period. Custom program includes in-store POS and sampling demos featuring Gulf Coast brown shrimp skewers served with mango salsa. POS includes a counter card, ice pick and static cling for freezer door. Additionally, recipe cards with a QR code linking to a recipe demo video are being distributed. Consumers will also be able to trace their seafood via Gulf Seafood Trace QR code.
Hy-Vee Grocery Partnership
The Coalition partnered with Hy-Vee Stores in Urbandale, IA in August 2012 to promote Gulf Coast seafood through a shrimp-sampling event, customized POS such as counter cards and leave-behind recipe cards complete with a QR code. Sales increased 63 percent for the week of sampling, and maintained a 44 percent increase for four weeks after the sampling. The Coalition has programs in the planning stage with Rouses Supermarkets in Louisiana for customized POS/sampling.
Other Retailer Tools
Other tools that retailers can use through the Coalition are ongoing media relations to consumers, and the Coalition’s web and social media channels. Eatgulfseafood.com is a portal for both retailers and consumers to find everything from sourcing information to recipe ideas. Constantly updated with the most recent news and information, eatgulfseafood.com is almost as fresh as the seafood it features. Gulf Coast seafood can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GulfCoastSeafood, on Twitter as @EatGulfSeafood and on Pinterest at pinterest.com/EatGulfSeafood. Interacting with consumers on social media allows fans to ask questions and feel engaged with the brand, creating advocates out of consumers to drive sales.
Traceability
Traceability is becoming more and more important to consumers. Gulf Coast seafood is proud to be traceable through Gulf Seafood Trace, allowing the consumer to know not only where their seafood comes from, but also when it was caught. This differentiates Gulf Coast seafood and provides enhanced confidence for consumers. More information on Gulf Seafood Trace can be found at http://www.gulfseafoodtrace.org.
For more information about the Gulf Seafood Marketing Coalition and how to sell more Gulf Coast seafood, please contact Joanne McNeely at mcneely.joanne@gmail.com , 850-224-1129 or 813-286-8390.
About Gulf Seafood Marketing Coalition
The Coalition provides a framework for the seafood community to coordinate marketing efforts among the Gulf States with emphasis on working with tourism boards, restaurants, retailers and chefs. The Gulf & South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Inc. is coordinating the Gulf Seafood Marketing Coalition through funding provided by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (NOAA Award #NA10NMF4770481). For more information, please visit www.eatgulfseafood.com and follow the Coalition on Facebook at Gulf Coast Seafood and Twitter at @eatgulfseafood.
About Gulf & South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Inc.
The Foundation is a private, regional nonprofit research organization with a general membership and Board of Trustees representing a wide spectrum of the commercial fishing industry throughout the southeast U.S. Through the Foundation, the commercial seafood and fishing industry can collectively identify industry needs, and address those needs through appropriate research and other activities. Representing the nine-state region from Virginia to Texas, the Foundation has sponsored more than 600 fisheries related research projects.
Source: Gulf Seafood Marketing Coalition