ON DECK
Northern Lights VIEWS FROM ALASKA
Meeting the covid market By Jeremy Woodrow
he business of seafood didn’t stop with the pandemic, but it sure took a few unexpected turns. While covid-19 has created some hurdles, especially at foodservice, which typically represents twothirds of domestic seafood consumption, it’s also created opportunities for Alaska seafood. According to IRI, 90 percent of Americans are eating at home more often, 73 percent are taking more time to prepare meals, and 53 percent are creating more meals from scratch. In May, frozen seafood retail sales were up 66 percent year over year, and in the U.S., online shopping saw a 95 percent increase. Consumers are paying attention to proteins that provide healthy, immune-boosting benefits and come from a stable and sustainable supply chain, and Alaska seafood checks all of these boxes. As an industry, it’s our job to convert these first-timers to lifetime consumers of Alaska seafood by ensuring they have an enjoyable experience from the start. With the global coronavirus pandemic affecting virtually every step of the Alaska seafood supply chain, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute utilized market research and industry relationships to respond to rapidly changing consumer behavior and global markets, and ensure Alaska seafood continued to meet the demand for healthy, delicious and sustainable wild seafood.
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Cooking with confidence When people around the world looked to their quarantine kitchens with new enthusiasm, bread wasn’t the only thing they were trying out at home for the first time. ASMI leaned into the trend in the U.S. market with an integrated communications plan featuring at-a-glance cooking tips and recipes to help consumers build confidence in cooking wild Alaska seafood at home. This campaign focused on consumers filling pantries and freezers this spring.We also amplified our revamped Cook It Frozen! techniques and materials through popular cooking and media To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073
platforms. For one of ASMI’s longest-running campaigns, it feels especially relevant today. In May, ASMI’s Japan program increased its at-home cooking support with recipe development tied to a hosted Instagram promotion of Herring Roe Day on May 5. Originally planned as a series of in-store promotions for the holiday, which is meant to encourage consumers to eat herring roe (kazunoko) beyond the traditional New Year’s holiday, the program shifted to an online campaign featuring preparation tips and serving suggestions after the coronavirus forced the cancellation of all in store activities. In the UK, ASMI tapped into the new normal, which found consumers needing new recipe ideas for breakfast, lunch and midday snacks as well as dinner, by partnering with chefs and dieticians on a series of seafood brunch, bowl and snack recipes, including an Alaska Seacuterie board.
E-commerce emerges strong ASMI rapidly shifted global promotions to support increases in online shopping. ASMI’s China program was ahead of other markets in terms of experience with online and e-commerce models, and well positioned to support the even greater shift to online ordering. ASMI began a new online promotion targeting home cooks, particularly those 56 percent of Chinese parents who were now cooking at home with their children.Two quickly executed e-commerce promotions in China in March and April resulted in more than $2 million in Alaska seafood sales with a small investment from ASMI. In Germany, ASMI partnered with a popular direct-to-consumer shopping app to deliver targeted Alaska Seafood content to consumers as part of an overall BBQ grilling themed promotion within the app.
Media and importer education In Southeast Asia and China, ASMI is diversifying opportunities for products that
suffer from declining monopolistic markets in Japan through in-person seminars and culinary demonstrations. To keep momentum moving, these programs are shifting to virtual seminars and sending sample product deliveries to key chefs, importers and media. Here in the U.S., we have directed efforts toward sending product samples to media and culinary partners who were staying home, cooking more and sharing their recipes on their social and digital media platforms. This led to a steady stream of press coverage with a 153 percent increase in year-over-year media impressions highlighting how people were enjoying Alaska seafood at home.
Supporting our partners Another priority has been to support our foodservice and trade partners around the globe. In Spain, ASMI partnered with restaurants and chef associations to serve critically needed healthy meals of Alaska seafood dishes at hospitals and for families in need. As restaurants began reopening, ASMI’s Southern Europe program partnered with local distributors to offer a “reopening gift” to select restaurants, including a one-week supply of Alaska seafood to help stabilize the important foodservice sector during uncertain times. A recent Datassential consumer study showed that seafood is the second most craved restaurant menu item domestic consumers miss from restaurants. ASMI’s U.S. domestic program worked with sustainable seafood advocate Chef Barton Seaver to develop tips for restaurant chefs to prepare those craveable seafood favorites for takeout menus. ASMI also joined the Seafood Nutrition Partnership’s “Eat Seafood, America” campaign to support the seafood supply chain by promoting domestic consumption of U.S. seafood. The last six months have taught us to be more nimble than ever and the importance of our relationships across our global industry. We continue to learn from and build on these lessons as the seafood and consumer landscapes change to best position our world class, wild, sustainable Alaska seafood resource. Jeremy Woodrow is the executive director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in Juneau.
September 2020 \ National Fisherman 7
