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Global Retail Photos courtesy of Lofotprodukt Modern packaging helped Lofotprodukt become a top Norway seafood brand. A design for success Packaging turns a local producer into one of Norway's most popular brands By JasoN HoLLaNd T here are many examples where food producers have scored a commercial hit from rebooting old fashioned-style recipes. In most 32 SeaFood Business July 2013 cases, sustained success has come from surpassing basic food nostalgia to make those products appeal to the broadest possible consumer base. One of the most efective ways to achieve that end is to adopt a contemporary approach to packaging design, a strategy that has worked particularly well for Norwegian manufacturer Lofotprodukt AS and its traditional "fskekakers" (fsh cakes). Te company's portfolio comprises up to 60 diferent retail products and it is Norway's market leader in the premium fsh cake, fsh burger and smoked/marinated salmon segments. Its biggest sellers are its Lofoten Hjemmelagde Fiskekaker (homemade fish cakes), Lofoten 80 percent Fish Burgers and Lofoten Smoked Salmon. Te brand name Lofoten is taken from the island where Lofotprodukt is based, which is the location of one of Norway's most important fshing grounds. "We stick to old recipes that used to be handed down from generation to generation, and tell the products' stories through a modern look," says Camilla Beck Saetre, Lofotprodukt's head of marketing. Last year, the producer achieved a turnover of NOK 274 million (€36.6 million/$47.2 million). And while it has increased its sales annually for the past 10 years, it hasn't been all smooth sailing. Lofotprodukt was founded in 1994, just after the fame at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer had been extinguished and when Norwegian confdence was at an all-time high. Te venture was a merger of a fsh processor and a smoked salmon producer that were going out of business due to fnancial difculties. Te plan was to utilize local raw materials to manufacture homemadestyle fskekakers, using the traditional ingredients of fresh fsh fllet, potato four, butter, milk and spices. Fiskekakers have been prepared by fshermen's wives along the Norwegian coast for centuries. "Local investors brought in fresh capital, believing in the idea of high-quality products," says Beck Saetre. However, the Norwegian seafood industry was in a very diferent place from today. It was much less dynamic, comprising many small manufacturers in every ford in northern and western Norway. Te mentality was simply to get fsh out of the sea and sell it as fast as possible. To make matters worse for these businesses, the retail structure changed: frst from local to regional; and then to national chains complete with national purchasing departments. Today, Norway has just four national retailers with a combined 99 percent market share. Survival became even more difcult, she says. "Many companies without agreements with the chains were not able to get their products into the marketplace and have gone out of business," says Beck Saetre. Lofotprodukt grew slowly at the beginning, achieving a turnover of NOK 2.9 million (€387,380/$500,000) in its frst year and NOK 10.8 Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com