SeaFood Business

JAN 2014

SeaFood Business is the global trusted authority for seafood buyers and sellers. We are the seafood industry's leading trade magazine with more than 30 years of experience. Our coverage is based on the "business" of buying and selling seafood.

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Top Species Photo courtesy of Oregon Albacore Commission Tuna suppliers want to get their product 'out of the can' and into chefs' hands. Tuna Ample yellowfn supply poses pricing, marketing challenges BY JOANNE FRIEDRICK W ith supply exceeding demand in the short term, yellowfn tuna importers are looking for creative ways to start reducing inventories. A shortage of product in 2012 that resulted in a furry of orders to build tuna inventories has left some importers with excess at a time when demand has waned. Yellowfn processors in Vietnam, Tailand, Indonesia and the Philippines ramped up eforts at a time when contracts with higher prices were in the market, says Paige Tilghman, executive VP for Twin Tails 24 SeaFood Business January 2014 Seafood Corp. in Miami. As supply grew and prices fell, those with contracts started to feel the pinch, he says. At the same time, higher prices pushed foodservice operators and other buyers to look at alternatives such as mahimahi or even pangasius, he adds. "Demand hasn't come back to where it was in 2011," says Tilghman. "So now it's the job of sales departments and distributors to get [buyers] to see if it can be a proftable product." Jon Rezny, VP-purchasing for Chicago-based Fortune Fish & Gourmet, agrees it has become a buyer's market because "people got a little zealous with their inventories." While it's good from a buyer's perspective to see some bargains, Rezny doesn't like to see anyone lose money or put themselves in a fnancially precarious position. Like Tilghman, Rezny says when yellowfn prices were high a year or so ago, restaurant and country club buyers began changing their menus, substituting mahimahi, swordfsh and halibut for tuna, or at least trading yellowfn for albacore. While there are certain items, such as shrimp, that customers won't take of their menus, tuna doesn't have that same level of popularity, says Rezny. Buyers are benefting because importers who are holding inventory are now running specials to spur sales, according to Tilghman. When tuna was $9 a pound to distributors they looked for other, more proftable choices, says Tilghman. "Now that it is in the $5 range, it's a value," he says. Price isn't the only factor, though, that impacts whether tuna gets back on menus or into the retail case, Tilghman says. Te seasonality of tuna, which is usually marketed as a grilling item, makes it harder to sell in the winter. "It's a summer fsh and foodservice demand is in the summer," he explains. Frozen tuna sales are higher from May to August, but demand for fresh product is year-round. Fortune buys fresh albacore from the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast and from Fiji, while its frozen yellowfn is a product of Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines or Vietnam. Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com

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