SeaFood Business

MAY 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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Editor's Note Publisher Mary Larkin / mlarkin@divcom.com Associate Publisher / Editor Fiona Robinson / frobinson@divcom.com Senior Editor, SeaFood Business James Wright / jwright@divcom.com Assistant Editor, SeaFood Business Melissa Wood / mwood@divcom.com Online Editor, SeafoodSource Sean Murphy / smurphy@divcom.com Assistant Editor, SeafoodSource April Forristall / aforristall@divcom.com Contributing Editors Christine Blank, Joanne Friedrick, Jason Holland, Lauren Kramer, Chris Loew Art Director Laura Lee Dobson / ldobson@divcom.com Production Associate Doug Stewart / dstewart@divcom.com Production Web Designer Katie Emery / kemery@divcom.com Advertising Coordinator Wendy Jalbert / wjalbert@divcom.com ADVERTISING SALES Sue Kogan, Sales Manager U.S. East Coast/Europe (305) 598-0757 / skogan@divcom.com Marjorie Ferris, Sales Manager U.S. West Coast/Asia/South America (207) 842-5631 / mferris@divcom.com SALES FAX: (207) 842-5611 @SeaFoodBusiness, @SeafoodSource .com/SeaFoodBusinessmagazine DIVERSIFIED COMMUNICATIONS 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438 Portland, ME 04112-7438 (207) 842-5606 Fax: (207) 842-5603 Published by Diversifed Business Communications Publisher of National Fisherman and WorkBoat Copyright © 2014 Diversifed Business Communications PRINTED IN U.S.A. Producer of Seafood Expo North America, Seafood Processing North America, New England Food Show, Seafood Expo Global, Seafood Processing Global, Seafood Expo Asia, Seafood Expo Southern Europe and www.seafoodsource.com Theodore Wirth President/CEO Mary Larkin VP Seafood Expositions Liz Plizga Show Director, Seafood Expo Karen Butland Sales Manager, Seafood Expo North America Victoria Hennin VP Strategic Marketing and Business Intelligence (207) 842-5500 / Fax: (207) 842-5505 www.divbusiness.com 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? 4_editnote_may.indd 4 4/21/14 8:08 AM

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