A Newsletter for the Seafood Industry published by the Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing
March 2008
Busy in Boston
The Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing coordinated and hosted the Florida Pavilion at the International Boston Seafood Show, February 24-26, 2008, at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center. Florida seafood and aquaculture companies were provided a high-profile way to present and promote their products within the pavilion. We were privileged to share the pavilion with the following Florida companies: Fishbusterz Fisheries, Florida Alligator Marketing and Education, Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Incredible Fish, Leavins Seafood, Shaw's Southern Belle Frozen Foods, Stokes Seafood and Lake Trucking, and Wood’s Fisheries.
The goal of participating in this event is to promote Florida seafood and aquaculture, and give companies an opportunity to make new contacts and generate sales. Over 17,000 seafood and aquaculture buyers from around the world attended the show. Those buyers visiting the Florida Pavilion contributed to a record year with an estimated $20 million combined sales, for the eight participating companies. If you would like additional information, or are interested in participating at the 2009 Boston Seafood Show please contact Paul Balthrop at (850) 488-0163 or balthrp@doacs.state.fl.us.
Key Seafood Buyers Tell All at Aquaculture America 2008
Florida was the host state for this year's Aquaculture America 2008 held February 9-12 at Lake Buena Vista in Orlando. Bureau Chief Joanne McNeely presented a marketing workshop for national aquaculture producers on how to reach the retail, wholesale and restaurant buyers with information on their products. The workshop, “Key Seafood Buyers Tell All,” was a Q&A session with panel members representing large retailers, wholesalers, restaurants and chefs.
Panel members included Dan Drayer of Talk of the Town Restaurant Group, Sherry Kelley of Sweetbay Supermarkets, Crystal Noble of Sweetbay Supermarkets, Steve Paterson of Category Management Group and Adam Zewen of Bama Seafood Products. Discussion topics included product sourcing, product quality, market trends, preferred product forms, customer attitudes/preferences on aquaculture products and communication tips for product placement. The workshop information and follow-up discussions were well received and the bureau has been asked to offer a similar panel session at next year’s meeting in Seattle.
Aquaculture America is sponsored by World Aquaculture Society (WAS), an international non-profit society with over 3,000 members in 94 countries. Founded in 1970, the primary focus of WAS is to improve communication and information exchange within the diverse global aquaculture community. WAS has international chapters in the Asian Pacific region, Latin America, the United States and Japan, as well as formal associations with many other aquaculture organizations around the world.
To view the website, click here
Come to the Panacea Blue Crab Festival on May 3
The Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing will participate in the 34th Annual Blue Crab Festival on Saturday, May 3. Held annually at Wooley Park on scenic Dickerson Bay, this festival was organized in 1975 to promote the crab industry in Wakulla County.
The festival kicks off with a parade down U.S. Highway 98. Recipe brochures of locally available seafood will be distributed at the event. Festival activities include arts and crafts, delicious seafood, a mullet toss and a fireworks finale. A long-time tradition of the festival is the blue-crab picking contest. You can watch contestants pick their way through a basket of blue crabs to “weigh-in” the delicious meat for a prize. Admission is $3 and children under age 3 get in free. Hope to see you there!
Florida Seafood Making a Big Splash in Print
Florida seafood has been making a big splash in articles appearing in newspapers and consumer and trade publications throughout the state and nationwide. The bureau’s public relations efforts have kept Florida seafood in front of the media and consumers with a series of press releases that focused on seasonal information about Florida seafood favorites with recipes and color photos.
Our Florida snapper recipe photo was showcased on the cover of Food Management Magazine’s February issue and in the feature article, “The Lure of Seafood.” Food Management is a national publication providing ideas for colleges, healthcare, schools and business dining food service. To see the complete article with the Florida seafood recipes and photos, click here. Additional releases with recipes and photos for Florida clams, stone crab claws, alligator and mullet also appeared in a variety of newspapers, city magazines, regional trade publications and online sites in January, February and March. These press releases can be viewed on the seafood website, click here.
Press releases, event participation, distribution of promotional materials, television cooking segments and direct media contact are the major components of the bureau’s comprehensive public relations plan. Through the first nine months of fiscal year 2007-08, over 72.3 million gross impressions and almost $158,000 in ad value were obtained from earned media. This exposure was accomplished by utilizing a multimedia approach at minimal cost and almost 60 documented articles or features were published in print or online as a result of these efforts.
Televised Cooking Segments
Florida seafood is prepared bi-weekly on a local Tallahassee television station. Nutritious and delicious seafood recipes are showcased by Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing staff. If you have a favorite family seafood recipe to share with us, please email Ramsay Parham at parhamv@doacs.state.fl.us.
To view our recipes online, click here
Shrimp Producers Association
The Shrimp Producers Association will host a booth serving Florida wild caught shrimp at the Bausch and Lomb Tennis Championships in April at Amelia Island. This is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States and is always held at Amelia Island Plantation. Over 150,000 fans will attend April 4-13. Worldwide media coverage will broadcast the event giving wide exposure to Florida’s delicious wild caught shrimp.
45th Annual Isle of 8 Flags Shrimp Festival
The Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival will celebrate Florida’s delicious wild-caught shrimp at its 45th anniversary May 2-4, 2008. The festival is well known for its live music and hundreds of booths featuring antiques, arts and crafts, and food specializing in Florida wild-caught shrimp. The Isles of 8 Flags Shrimp Festival continues the tradition of showcasing and supporting Florida shrimpers.
For information, email 4info@shrimpfestival.com.
To view the festival website, click here
Florida Alligator Marketing and Education Advisory Committee (FAME)
The Florida alligator industry was well represented at the Las Vegas Restaurant Show, February 26-27, 2008. Chef Josh Butler, executive chef for the Florida Governor's Mansion, served alligator bites with four different sauces and a large pot of alligator picadillo. Restaurant owners, managers, and buyers flocked to the booth to get samples. A culinary competition was set up across the aisle, so future executive chefs were introduced to the qualities and versatility of Florida alligator meat. The booth was sponsored by the Florida Alligator Marketing and Education Advisory Committee (FAME). Members of the committee in attendance were Genie Tillman of Parker Island Gator Farm and Allen Register of Gatorama.
With California allowing the sale of alligator products within the state effective January 1, 2007, the FAME committee expressed interest in targeting marketing efforts in the western states. Using both push and pull market strategies, they hope to establish new accounts and markets in an area in where alligator products have only been considered a novelty item.
Safer Oyster Education
A small segment of the population is at risk when eating raw or undercooked oysters. The risk is associated with Vibrio vulnificus (Vv), a naturally occurring bacteria found in warm coastal waters. The need to inform high-risk consumers of the dangers of eating raw oysters is a high priority. However, it is equally important to educate the high-risk consumers, general consumers and the food service industry of the availability of post-harvest processed (PHP) oysters.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing, participated in a multi-state collaborative oyster marketing and consumer education grant with following agencies: Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, and the Seafood Technology Bureau of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. The goal of this project is to increase the overall sales and consumption of oyster products through the development and promotion of safer post-harvest processed (PHP) oyster products, processes and technologies. Awareness of the risks involved in eating oysters and information on the availability of equally good-tasting and safer product alternatives is the main focus of this education program.
The Bureau and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services audio/video staff scripted and produced radio commercials designed to educate the at-risk consumer and the public at large on the benefits of PHP oysters. During December 2007 and January 2008, the commercial was aired 105 times on three Tampa-area radio stations and reached over 770,000 listeners. Additionally bureau and industry staff educated seafood buyers at the 2008 International Boston Seafood Show.
2008 Busan International Seafood and Fisheries Expo
Thanks to the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), bureau staff will be attending and staffing a booth at the 2008 Busan International Seafood and Fisheries Expo in Busan, South Korea. The Expo will be held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) from November 13-15, 2008. This is a great opportunity for Florida seafood and aquaculture companies to strengthen their competitiveness in Asia and the Pacific Rim by making contact with the 23,000 international seafood buyers expected to attend.
The bureau is currently seeking Florida seafood and aquaculture companies to participate in the SUSTA booth at the expo. For more information about this event, please contact Paul Balthrop at (850) 488-0163 or balthrp@doacs.state.fl.us.
Clamerica
Cedar Key will host the 5th annual Clamerica celebration on July 4, 2008, at the newly renovated City Park. Celebrating and showcasing Florida clams, the local clams will be prepared in many delicious ways and served to festival attendees at various food booths. The Southeastern Tourism Society listed Clamerica as one of the top 20 events for July 2008.
Florida oysters and shrimp will be offered as well. Family events and contests will run all day with live music in the park and a spectacular fireworks display ending the festivities. Seafood marketing staff will give a live cooking demonstration of Clam Scampi and distribute Florida seafood recipe brochures.
Grant Proposals to Help the Industry
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing, has submitted proposals to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for funding of two grants.
The first proposal was sent to the USDA Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program for $81,636 of federal grant funds to be used for a two-year project. The goal of this project is to increase the market share of the Florida commercial seafood industry and fisheries management by assisting the industry in gaining greater knowledge and understanding of the seafood distribution channels. The project will focus on the top five Florida seafood types in terms of pounds harvested. The plan is to contract with the University of Florida to conduct research to identify product forms, geographic destinations, and distribution timelines as well as determine the economic and social impact these choices have on the fishing industry and the state’s economy. The information obtained from this study will assist the seafood industry in comparing and evaluating their own business practices and make changes as needed to increase efficiency and profitability.
The second proposal was sent to the USDA Risk Management Agency for a Commodity Partnership grant in the amount of $50,955. The goal of this project is to provide a comprehensive aquaculture marketing education and information program to Florida aquaculture producers. The state's aquaculture producers will benefit by utilizing this information to target their marketing efforts for the purpose of increasing growth and sales potential. The bureau will secure up-to-date information about potential buyer knowledge and perceptions of Florida aquaculture, including availability. This will be accomplished by conducting telephone surveys with Florida consumers and in-person interviews, with the results retail/restaurant buyers of these findings will be applied to the development of educational materials for the aquaculture producers to use as business development and marketing tools. The survey and interview results and the educational materials will be presented to Florida’s aquaculture producers at a workshop during the annual Florida Aquaculture Association meeting following the completion of the project.
If awarded, the work on these projects will begin the fall of 2008.
Congratulations to Dot Williamson
At the Southern United States Trade Association’s (SUSTA) Winter and Spring Planning meeting, bureau employee Dot Williamson was presented with the 2007 "Most Performance Goals Met and Highest Sales Award" for a SUSTA-sponsored activity during the 2007 fiscal year.
The activity highlighted was the European Seafood Exposition held April 24-26, 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. Florida, the lead activity manager, with assistance from Virginia provided overall coordination of this event. It was the 12th year SUSTA participated in this generic regional marketing endeavor. Seven companies, two from Florida, with diverse products participated in the trade event. Almost 24,000 decision-making buyers from more than 140 countries attended the 15-year seafood-only show. The sales generated as a result of this activity were $13.25 million, which is $10.75 million higher than the projected goal.
Way to go, Dot!
DACS-P-01458
