An emphasis on innovation and expanding into global markets is the key to growth for the commercialization of seafood products. Time and again, experts talking to SeafoodSource at the recent Congress on the Commercialization of Sea Products conference in Vigo, Spain, repeated this theme.Bruno Correard, international analyst of Correard Consulting, spoke at the conference, which was organized by the business association of producers and distributors AECOC, in collaboration with the magazine Industrias Pesqueras. More than 150 managers attended, from companies specializing in the commercialization and distribution of sea products.
Correard said he sees significant business opportunities in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), especially due to the great explosion of the middle class. He also highlighted other countries closer to Spain, such as France, where the annual consumption of fish per capita reaches 37 kg. He defined it as a market very sensitive to the price and responsive to innovation and product quality.
Apart from talking about opportunities during the current economic crisis, he also analyzed how the profile of the consumer of sea products has changed in Spain as a result of the current economy.
Fernando Faces, an expert in macroeconomics, banking and financial markets, agreed that the economy has had an impact on consumers. He forecasted the Spanish economy would bottom out in 2014 and that, from that moment on, the restoring process would start. He said he thinks the current consumer has become more pessimistic, distrustful and obsessed by prices.
Faces said he also believes that a great part of the drop is due to the psychological factor. According to Faces, the most important thing at the moment is “to maintain the consumer’s confidence” and trust in internationalization and innovation as the best allies.
Adding to the discussion were presentations analyzing market and consumption trends. Angels Segura, who studies the sea products sector for AECOC, presented for the first time a report on the purchase habits of the sea products’ consumer.
Among her conclusions, she said only 7.3 percent of people consume fish products more than three times a week, and 75.1 percent of people consider seafood products to be functional rather than pleasant to consume. She recommended better communication with the consumer to facilitate the seafood preparing and eating experience.
Pere Vives, Food Service Director of Kantar Worldpanel, also analyzed the market, emphasizing the lethargy in the increase of the demand of sea products in Spain in the last decade, as well as the change in the consumption from frozen to fresh fish in the last year and the 13.4 percent increase of the purchase of packed fresh fish. He also noted that the version of these types of prepared products is welcomed and convenient, but their taste and pleasure leave a lot to be desired.
