Editor's Note
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Senior Editor, SeaFood Business
James Wright / jwright@divcom.com
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Melissa Wood / mwood@divcom.com
Online Editor, SeafoodSource
Sean Murphy / smurphy@divcom.com
Assistant Editor, SeafoodSource
April Forristall / aforristall@divcom.com
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Lauren Kramer, Chris Loew
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Copyright © 2014
Diversifed Business Communications
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Editorial Advisory Board
DISTRIBUTION
Rich Polins, North Coast Seafoods
Jim Wallace, C&S; Wholesale Grocers
Andrew Wilkinson, Sysco
RETAIL
Robert Cerullo,
Wakefern Food Corp.
Jack Gridley,
Dorothy Lane Market
FOODSERVICE
Roger Berkowitz and Richard Vellante,
Legal Sea Foods
Steve LaHaie, Shaw's Crab House
4 SeaFood Business May 2014
Stand behind your brand
W
elcome to our annual Top 25 North American Seafood Suppliers issue.
Readers have used this feature year after year as a barometer of the indus-
try, a "who's who" of the top seafood suppliers. Sixteen years of publishing
the list has given our editors a bird's-eye view of the trends impacting the
big guns on an annual basis.
Tis year's themes include the normal fallout from consolidation and impact of higher
prices. One of the big purchasers in recent years has been High Liner Foods. Company
President Keith Decker told James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor, that the company's
strategy for successful acquisitions has been to focus on buying trusted brands. "Brands set
you apart and if you can buy great brands they come with an intrinsic value to the customer
and the consumer," says Decker.
Te importance of such branding was the topic of a seminar I moderated at Seafood
Expo North America, Sustainability of a Brand: Strategies for Developing and Maintaining
a Seafood Brand. Attendees were told that a brand is clear, concise and motivates a buyer
to take action. And above all, a brand is not just a logo on a package; it's the fshermen or
farmers who harvest the seafood, and everything behind the product that conveys credibility
and loyalty. Panelist Jon Stamell, founder of Future Shift in New York, summed it up best:
"Your brand is a promise," he said.
Te companies on our Top 25 list got as big as they are by delivering that promise to
customers who in turn want to invest. Tese suppliers have put time and money behind
marketing and post-launch research to garner reactions to the product and packaging. If
your brand doesn't deliver consistent taste and value, what do you do? You spend the time
on R&D; to look at your strengths and weaknesses. You consider the desires of the buyers
and which needs may be unmet.
At the end of the day, if you can't stand for your brand, what do you stand for?
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