Saving Seafood

Post-COVID recovery could see spate of seafood company mergers and acquisitions

February 11, 2021 — When the world begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, some prominent seafood executives are predicting a busy period of mergers and acquisitions.

Speaking during the National Fisheries Institute’s 2021 Global Seafood Market Conference’s economic outlook panel, seafood company advisors and CEOs said they expect a combination of factors will lead to increased M&A activity. As companies begin to see a turnaround from the COVID-19-related economic downturn, access to cheap financing could spur companies to look for new opportunities, according to Antarctica Advisors LLC Managing Partner Ignacio Kleiman.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

One Alaska king salmon is worth the same as two barrels of oil right now

February 10, 2021 — Seafood sales “are on fire” in America’s supermarkets and one king salmon from Southeast Alaska is worth the same as two barrels of oil.

That’s $116.16 for a troll-caught chinook salmon averaging 11 pounds at the docks vs. $115.48 for 2 barrels of oil at $57.74 per barrel on Feb. 3.

As more COVID-conscious customers opted in 2020 for seafood’s proven health benefits, salmon powered sales at fresh seafood counters. Frozen and “on the shelf” seafoods also set sales records, and online ordering tripled to top $1 billion.

Those are some takeaways from a National Fisheries Institute Global Marketing Conference hosted online by SeafoodSource News.

Here is a sampler of what experts called “eye-popping” 2020 retail sales reflecting America’s trend to eat more fish:

IRI, a world leader in market data, said overall sales at in-store fresh seafood counters jumped 28% to $871 million, led by salmon with a 19% increase to $2.2 billion.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

NFI’s Robert DeHaan: Action on climate change, COVID, multilateralism will guide Biden’s first months

February 10, 2021 — Just before Joseph Biden was sworn in as president of the United States a month ago, his chief of staff, Ronald Klain, laid out the obstacles ahead for the administration.

“We face four overlapping and compounding crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity crisis,” Klain wrote in a memorandum issued to staff on 16 January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Glenn Cooke, Ian Smith offer timeline for COVID-19 foodservice recovery

February 9, 2021 — The global COVID-19 pandemic has been a mixed bag for the seafood industry, with retailers notching record seafood sales and the category as a whole seeing gains, even as the foodservice industry virtually collapsed.

That downturn is expected to change direction this year, with foodservice operators optimistic about 2021. Seafood company CEOs and advisors, speaking during the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference’s economic outlook panel, also expressed optimism about the industry’s recovery. While in the short-term the rebound may be slight, as trend experts have predicted, once relative normalcy returns demand could see a big boost.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NFI Chair, Seattle Fish CEO Derek Figueroa bullish on seafood industry’s 2021 outlook

February 8, 2021 — Despite the enormous challenges and tragedies that COVID-19 has inflicted upon the industry and the world, new National Fisheries Institute (NFI) Chair Derek Figueroa said the pandemic has been a catalyst for change for seafood.

Figueroa, the president and CEO of Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.-based Seattle Fish Co., told SeafoodSource he is looking forward to “bringing diverse voices together” in his new, one-year position at NFI.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US retailers notched record seafood sales in 2020

February 2, 2021 — U.S. retailers posted record seafood sales across the fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable categories, according to new data presented at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Marketing Conference on 1 February.

Frozen seafood sales soared 35 percent to USD 7 billion (EUR 5.8 billion), fresh sales rose 24.5 percent to USD 6.7 billion (EUR 5.6 billion), and shelf-stable rose 20.3 percent to USD 2.9 billion (EUR 2.4 billion), according to 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink, citing data from IRI Worldwide.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New NFI Chair Highlights Market Data and Expert Insights Available at Virtual GSMC

January 25, 2021 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

The President and CEO of Seattle Fish Co., Derek Figueroa, is the new Chair of the National Fisheries Institute. Figueroa helms the Denver-based seafood distributor that boasts more than a hundred years in business.

“Seattle Fish has a legacy of using technology and engagement to do more in the seafood space,” said Figueroa. “In 1918 this company created a cold chain system that used rail cars, sawdust and ice to transport fresh seafood to the landlocked state of Colorado. We were getting customers what they needed. That’s what NFI is doing with the Virtual Global Seafood Market Conference. We can’t meet in person, but the industry needs the data and insight we’ve come to rely on from GSMC. So we’re doing it virtually.”

The Virtual Global Seafood Market Conference runs from February 1st to the 5th for two hours each day. The GSMC Webinar Series lasts all year with biweekly offerings providing species-specific data and markets focused dialogue. Attendees can register for the GSMC Bundle package here.

Virtual GSMC will feature plenary presentations and sessions on Retail, Food Service, the Economy, Alternative Proteins and more. Keynote speakers from IRI, 210 Analytics, Datassentail, CattleFax, Urner Barry, Rabobank, and Wells Fargo will detail market shocks and recovery timelines. The program will also feature C-suite perspectives from leaders in retailer and foodservice, as well as an address from the man who knows a thing or two about pivoting, Bo Jackson.

As part of his just released video message, Figueroa notes the benefits of a virtual conference and webinar series include the fact that producers recognize, during a pandemic, things change by the “week, by the day, even by the minute.”

Derek Figueroa will address the Virtual GSMC on Friday February 5th with his state of the industry address.

Inaugurated as president, Biden faces host of pandemic-related woes

January 20, 2021 — As Joe Biden was sworn in as president of the United States on Wednesday, 20 January, the seafood and foodservice industries urged the incoming administration to provide additional funding for COVID-19 pandemic-related losses.

Today’s ceremony, making Biden the nation’s 46th president, capped off the tumultuous months between the November elections and Inauguration Day, marred by former President Donald Trump’s legal opposition to Biden’s election, along with a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol building earlier this month.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NFI gearing up for virtual Global Seafood Market Conference, webinar series

January 19, 2021 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has launched a webinar series intended to provide analysis of the latest trends affecting the global seafood industry.

The largest U.S. seafood trade group began hosting biweekly Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) webinars last week, with a focus on the global shrimp trade, which like most seafood categories, experienced wild fluctuations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. SeafoodSource is providing exclusive coverage of the GSMC Webinar series, which will be providing comprehensive market content throughout 2021.

Read the full story at Seafood Source