Seafood Case - Forums Archive

SilverT

2010-01-20 05:43:49

Coho showed up in the grocers case last week in Washington at $8.99/lb whole, $11.99/lb filleted. Sockeye is still being sold at $8.99/lb. Smoked chum is still selling at $15.99/lb.

salmon4u

2010-01-20 09:11:21

isn't that the way it goes... I like this forum, we all need to see what prices our products are actually selling for to the public, it's sick and unfair the way that trollers always take it in the shorts...

SilverT

2010-01-22 05:40:15

Salmon4u,

I am curious too about what prices are doing around the rest of the Country. I stopped by another major west coast grocer last night. They have three stores in our town. They have a large good looking seafood case. They sell one kind of salmon, Atlantic, farm raised, for $8.99/lb. That indicates that few people who shop at this huge chain request Pacific Salmon.

The superiority of wild/ranched salmon should be well known on the west coast of all places. Is there an effective marketing and educational program in place to educate the public regarding the benefits of the product? I find information once in a while, but I'm l :shock: king for it. If the public wants a product, naturally there's demand. When folks are clamoring for product, prices naturally rise. I am curious if there is an organization that has an advertising/educational program in place that goes beyond a website? Do independent studies exist comparing nutritional value of farm-raised vs. wild/ranched? Can they be referenced in educational advertising spots on radio or TV? Has this been done before and do you know the results?

I like this site too and I can't think of a better place to support financially.

salmon4u

2010-01-22 08:34:58

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is good

Id say tha around western Washington, the word has been out for years on the superiority of wild alaska salmon. The prices are always high in all cases that I've seen due to demand. Of course we all know the success of the Copper River kings here in Seattle, I think last year it was bringing $30/lb. It sure is hard to understand having to sell your fish for a buck a pound, then see your same fish in the case for eight/lb

troller001

2010-01-22 18:53:41

So here is the theory on why fish is so expensive.

X Vessel on fish = $1.00

Fish Landing Tax $.05

Off Loading At Dock $.10

Case Up Of Product $.35

• Box

• Poly liner

• Gel Pack Cool Guard

• Trip to the Airport from off loading facility

Margin for processing Company 10%

$1.50 all in with 10% Margin for the packing company $0.17 / $1.67

Add 1.00 for shipping product via air

$2.50 Fob Seattle

XYZ Whole Sale Company buys product at $2.50 sells it to XZY Retail Grocery store.

XYZ Whole Sale Co. makes a margin of 15% (42.94 sales prices to XYZ Grocery Store)

XYZ Grocery store margin product behind the counter 40/60% depending on product.

$4.90 would be the cost at a 40% margin.

$7.00 would be the cost for fillet at 40% margin for XYZ Grocery store.

Most likely you would see a 4.99 whole and 6.99 fillet behind the counter.

biorka

2010-01-22 19:16:59

I think that most of the consumers out there will never "get it". Those who bother to educate themselves on the subject of wild vs farmed and can afford it, are buying wild. It seems that you have to whomp the others up-side the head with obnoxious and incessant prime time TV ads for them to really get it (it's the American Way) and this is not going to happen. To increase market share, we have to either "terrorize" them into thinking that they will die by eating farmed salmon, which of course, will spill over and many will respond by not eating any salmon. The other option is to have other market forces come into play to force farmed salmon out of the market like this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-imhoff/chiles-salmon-farms-vergi_b_229836.html.

I also have to wonder how often farmed fish get passed off as "Coho" and "Kings/Chinook" without being "called" on it. I personally "caught" a Safeway in Idaho selling farmed Atlantics as "King Salmon". I called them on it and they swore it was King. A couple of days later I went back and it was simply labeled "Salmon"! There were no "fish Cops' to call in Idaho. I also came upon this article recently which proves how easily people can and are being dupped:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/20/sterling-seafood-sold-mis_n_430213.html . If this guy could pass off catfish as Grouper long enough to accrue 60 million in tariffs tells me he was doing this for a long, long time. So how tough can it be to pass off farmed salmon as wild? Especially in Idaho, the midwest and the east coast where it is highly unlikely for a Pacific salmon fisher to wandering around the fish counter as Silver T is doing? Do we need federal inspection of seafood? Federally stamped/branded like meat to document country of origin, species and quality issues to solve this problem? No.... you don't think that those poor processors will pass additional costs onto us rich fisherman do you!?

PS Great work on the breakdown troller 001, thanks!

Salty

2010-01-23 02:59:34

Here is the case for Wild Alaska Salmon, pun intended.

http://www.alaskaseafood.org/health/facts/index.html

salmon4u

2010-01-23 09:21:01

I'd take half of this price I saw

SilverT

2010-01-23 18:34:56

Wow! Now that's what we are looking to see! Thanks for the pic.

Thanks to all for the feedback. I checked out the sites and articles and they are extremely informative. SMI appears to be the organization to consult for assistance in marketing and education. Biorka, your "terrorize" comment cracked me up and I suspect the results would be just as you said. The article on fish farming was shocking.

Troller001, thanks for the breakdown. That answered a LOT of questions and one can see that with even a small percentage increase in markup per seller, the price climbs quite a bit. I suppose the 40% markup at the end is somewhat affected by spoilage/loss associated with necessity to keep a full display case, no matter how quick the fish are selling. Still, that's quite a markup.

salmon4u

2010-01-23 20:35:39

What if fisherman were paid a percentage of the "marked up" retail price? Or create their own retail co-op's ? .. I know some retailers have large operating expenses, but so do fisherman and we are expected to assume all the risk for supplying the product. I can see why there's been Unions formed in Europe, there's alot of greed involved in our supply chain. I'd just like to see affordable wild salmon available at good prices to the public and fisherman be compensated fairly.

troller001

2010-01-25 15:42:31

Here is a pic of some salmon fillet (Chum) that was sold over on the East Side (Bellvue)

fisher1

2010-01-25 16:26:52

Visiting a Costco store in Southern California, I overheard two women discussing the merits of the Farmed fish verses Alaska Wild. They chose the Atlantic salmon so I interrupted them and introduced myself as a commercial fisherman. I asked for the factors that led to their decision. The first lady answered quickly that she didn't like the "fishy" taste of wild salmon and when I indicated that I didn't understand that comment the other woman added "you know, like venison..its gamey in taste" End of discussion. I hadn't heard that before.

Several weeks later, just before Christmas, I visited an Albersons in Newport Beach with the below pictured display. (I'll try to figure out how to attach a photo) Notice the "Fresh Copper River King" on the right.

Good job on that first King, Salty. This weekend I saw 3 boats trolling here in Auke Bay but didn't see any net-action.

~~[attachment=0]~~IMG_0494.jpg[/attachment]

SilverT

2010-01-26 07:56:05

It's nice to see the photos. A picture it worth a thousand words. Fisher1, thanks for sharing the interview with the ladies. I know a few people who don't like salmon and I can understand we are not going to talk someone into something they don't like. Perhaps Atlantic farmers have the market cornered for those who don't like the taste of salmon. A little amusing and a little sad. It's nice to see the chum selling so high, coming close to sockeye.

Salmon4U, Those are interesting ideas. The major issue that fishermen seem to struggle with is that when it comes down to it, we would rather be fishing. We don't want to spend part of the spring/summer/fall distributing, marketing and selling product. It's just not that exciting. Unions have their place, but the bickering and watch your neighbor attitude that comes with them is a real drag.

It would be nice if we could see the market healthy for everyone, trollers, processors, wholesalers and retailers mainly as a result of demand, which should increase price. When profit is high, it usually doesn't take long for competition to move in. When people compete for our business, we get treated better, all around. It would be nice to know exactly why some of the fish buyers listed on another post are going down. If they are as profitable as it seems they should be what exactly is dragging them down? It's a little difficult to accuse them of taking more than their share of the profit when no one is manning their office.

I picked up a tri-fold brochure sitting next to the cash register at a convenience store near my house recently. It had a picture of a gill-net boat, lots of nutritional information, how and where the fish were caught, how they were handled and pictures of nice orange fillets, along with contact information for the Alaska-based operation. It was an impressive brochure and I asked the store owner about it. He was complementary of the operation.

Carol W

2010-01-26 23:05:13

As a board member of SPC I am watching this conversation and believe me I am as frustrated if not more by the price we are receaving and will continue to ask the staff of SPC questions.

Keep your hand on it

Tom