16 February 2006
Over 60 delegates, including Shetland's farmed shellfish farmers and representatives from sponsors Shetland Islands Council, Shetland Enterprise and the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group, gathered on Friday (10 February) at the NAFC Marine Centre to hear from a number of high quality speakers on the future of the industry.
Kick starting the conference, Seafood Scotland 's chief executive, Libby Woodhatch, delivered an overview of the role of the organisation and a summary of the growth in the seafood sector as a whole.
She also revealed findings from a new consumer attitudes survey undertaken by Seafish, which highlights the importance of promoting provenance and quality in order to increase consumer confidence in seafood, and discussed how the Scottish seafood industry should capitalise on this growth.
Commenting on the value of the conference, she said: “It was an excellent opportunity for me to be able to speak to people working in the shellfish aquaculture sector in Shetland and to hear the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group story.
“The conference has helped to give Seafood Scotland a clear picture of developments in Shetland's shellfish industry and it was useful to hear about their plans for the future. In turn, it was a good opportunity for individual farmers to discover the marketing opportunities available for their product.
“There is certainly more scope for using provenance as a selling point to develop the sector, but you need to have clear niche markets in place to sell the story and you also need to be able to guarantee quality and continuity of supply.”
Waitrose fresh fish buyer, Jeremy Ryland-Langley, explained that shellfish is an increasingly important part of the company's assortment with huge opportunities for the future, particularly in the added value sector.
He too emphasised the important role for sustainability and provenance, adding that Waitrose is proud of its supplier base, one of which is the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group – a supplier for 15 years.
Managing director of the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG), Donny Gillies, presented a flavour of SSMG's marketing strategy, including ways to raise customer awareness in the Scottish shellfish brand, while consultant Ron Ferguson, who led SSMG through considerable change and restructure, delivered a well-rounded overview of how to drive efficiencies though a business, adding that he had never seen a marketplace where there is so much potential and opportunity.
Chairman of SSMG, Walter Speirs rounded off the presentations with his impressions of the co-operative from a farmer's perspective. He explained how things have changed since its inception in 1992 and how the group has grown in terms of capacity and membership.
“We have grown to a membership of 30 shellfish farmers with product on sale in Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, a fact we are very proud of. A unique selling point of the co-operative is that processors envy our captive supply base.
“We have so much potential for the future in terms of growth. We intend to target other multiples and processors keen to buy our product.
“SSMG is a mature and well-respected group in the seafood industry and is a very good model of a co-operative, which could be followed by other food producers.
“As to the future, in order to grow sales and develop new markets we need to increase our membership base and the production from those members. We have a good team in place, we are seeing continuous improvement within the group, and we have a customer base to die for. I believe that now is the time to move forward and I am delighted to be part of that future.
“As a group, we are already aware of the expertise and resources that are in place in Shetland. The conference was the perfect medium through which to raise awareness among non-members that joining SSMG is one way to access markets, such as the multiples, that might otherwise be difficult to reach.”
The conference concluded with an open forum, co-hosted by Ruth Henderson of Seafood Shetland and Peter Dryburgh of the NAFC Marine Centre, which gave Shetland shellfish producers the opportunity to share their views.
Commenting on the day, Ruth Henderson said: “It was really good to see so many of our members at the conference, participating in what was considered an extremely valuable day. Over the next three years, production is not set to increase dramatically and we have put in place a considered and respectful growth plan that empathises with our need to ensure a sustainable future for the industry and the environment on which it depends.”
Further information from:
Ruth Henderson , Seafood Shetland, tel 01595 693644, email sfpa@fishuk.net or visit www.fishuk.net
Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465, email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com