August 19, 2008
Fish Sales: Retailers Caught in a Net?
By Bernice Hurst, Managing Partner, Fine Food Network
Having been told repeatedly that fish is an important part of a balanced diet, consumers are now finding that it isn’t really that simple. Three different stories in the past week have outlined just some of the issues causing confusion that manufacturers and retailers have to try to resolve for the sake of their customers and profit margins.
Britain’s Times explained that labels on tinned tuna, long considered to be good and healthy, can mislead those who try to ensure that they only eat sustainably caught products. Apparently a label that says “dolphin-friendly” methods were used fails to cover all bad practices. “Although dolphins have been afforded a degree of protection from tuna fleets, other marine creatures are still commonly caught and killed as by-catch from tuna fishing, particularly rare turtles and sharks,” said the newspaper report.
In the U.S., Costco has recognized warnings from the FDA about mercury in seafood and decided to pass the information on to shoppers. According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, ocean conservation group, Oceana, said Costco’s decision is a response to member requests and Oceana’s efforts. “Mercury is a known neurotoxin most commonly consumed in contaminated fish,” Oceana explained.
They have also been negotiating with other chains about posting the FDA advice claiming success with Kroger, Safeway and Supervalu. Walmart is currently the only holdout nationally.
Stop & Shop, meanwhile, has decided to stop selling certain fish altogether. The Boston Globe reports that species threatened by over-fishing, particularly fresh shark and frozen Chilean sea bass and orange roughy, will no longer be available. Senior manager Ken Pentheny said it’s the first time the company has removed fish from its inventory for conservation reasons.
Not long ago, some of Britain’s top chefs also advised that fish frozen at sea is often better than what is sold as “fresh”. With such a range of factors muddying the waters about purchasing decisions, retailers may agree with Heather Tausig, director of conservation at New England Aquarium, and wonder if they should follow Stop & Shop’s example and stop selling certain fish, or any fish, at all.
Discussion Questions: With gray areas surrounding the safety of fish consumption and sustainability of the supply, is there too great a risk to retailers’ credibility? Do you expect retailers to increasingly back away from selling fish because of the complications and liabilities?
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An informed consumer is one who can make the correct decisions about their health, the foods they eat, and the retailers where they shop. Our expectations should reflect this position so that consumers get the correct information up and down the food chain. Fish requires full disclosure and information, just like beef, chicken, etc. Why wouldn’t we require stringent standards, recording and reporting on all of our foods, regardless of their origin or type?
When you look at the problem of overfishing and the lack of sustainable fishing practices, it can be pretty disheartening.
I continue to be amazed at the inability of some people and executives to look at the bigger picture on issues like this. Fortunately, retailers are in a position to “do the right thing” and some of them are. Congratulations to Stop & Shop! Let’s hope we reach a tipping point on sustainability before it is too late for too many species.
Retailers are not going to stop selling fish and consumers are not going to stop buying it. The current situation calls for some common sense. If a certain type is being over-fished, it’s good that retailers stop selling that fish and provide an explanation to consumers. If current tuna fishing practices are harming other species, both market forces and government intervention can change the practice.
We’ve gone through much bigger scares from beef and from vegetables. Last I checked, both were available in abundance at my local Ralph’s and Costco.
Retailers need to do the right thing and tell consumers the truth. Even if the truth changes regularly!
Stopping the selling of fish across the board is not going to happen. Demand will still be there and retailers are in business to make money as is the whole supply chain.
The health issue is the big one for me and it seems we cannot eat anything these days without some risk.
Sustainability is manageable with better fishing policies and management. The health issues and risks are a much bigger problem but, will they really surface and get the attention needed if it means a big economic problem?
Retailers have had success being open with consumers in the produce department when a certain fruit or vegetable is unavailable due to weather problems or in the recent salmonella scare first tied to tomatoes. Consumers are smart enough to understand that fresh items are different than processed, and their availability can fluctuate. I see no reason why being upfront with seafood should be any different.
If retailers are going to compete for shopper trips and loyalty, they need to understand and address the concerns shoppers have about transparency and clarity of information they make available. If I’m a retailer, the first thing I’d want to understand is how my shoppers feel about my product offering and current information available, and how that affects their shopping patterns relative to the competition. First ask, then listen and learn, then decide your strategy.
At the very least, I hope that a retailer that makes a decision to stop stocking a product for sustainability reasons, has done the homework to feel good about the fact that its shoppers will support the intent of the decision, and accept the retailer’s help to switch to other foods that are plentiful.
Food safety is a big concern for both retailers and consumers. That is the biggest scare and retailers need to be straight with consumers on those issues.
As far as sustainability of supply goes, retailers and consumers could care less. In my opinion, Stop & Shop stopped selling certain fish as a result of low sales volume in the seafood departments. It’s just a way to save face when sales drop to say you are shutting down your seafood department to help the species. That would be like Exxon saying they are no longer going to sell fuel due to oil shortages.