Product "Branding"

[Anonymous]

Take a quick look around many of the other bigger industries these days and pay attention to the trends taking shape.

Many car companies are racing to build the first "green" car. Many grocery stores are continually expanding their "green" or organic sections. Organic only stores are opening. Clothing sweatshops are being exposed and shut down. In all of these cases branding and distinguishing ones company as being green, enables them to stand out from the competition, as well as charge a higher price for a "premium product. We are now selling completely organic, human grade, hormone free, contains-something-from-every-single-food-group, as well as pro and pre biotics, dog food at much higher margins than even the usual super premium fare, and customers can't get enough of it. How possible would it be to harness some of this momentum for the marine industry?

I'm thinking of branding a wholesaler as being "green". This would obviously require a signifigant investment in marketing on their part, but would it be worth it if customers could go to their LFS requesting fish from a certain wholesaler? And how would the customer be sure that the LFS actually got their fish from them? Essentially your looking at branding a living animal I suppose. Would tracking numbers and shipment verification over the net work? ie This wholesaler posts what it sold to who on the net for the customer to verify the shipment (obviously no prices, just a packing list). And would that kind of marketing investment be worth it?

 

[MaryHM]

This is exactly what make is trying to do- create a "green" brandname

 

[Anonymous]

But MAC is non profit right?
I don't think I would have near the concerns I have about MAC if there we are for profit company. Add another "green" brand, and now you have competition and things get kept in check and are held accountable that way.

At least twice a year I get an FDA investigation notice from some dog food company where they have found an insignifigant flaw in their comepetitors formulation or guidelines, and ran with it. The result is a hgher quality product.

 

[mkirda]

Add another "green" brand, and now you have competition

Rover,

That is where things are headed as I type this...

MAC is trying to get there. However, I think the alternative has already surpassed MAC in terms of fish production and selection... It just hasn't been 'branded' quite yet...

Regards.
Mike Kirda

 

[Anonymous]

As I said in another thread I think many wholesalers are already attempting this. seems like a few LA companies lately have been touting 100% hand caught outa sri lanka. No way to prove it but thats the claim.

I really think this is going to be the reform as more and more pressure from the LFS's looking for such products. It's just takes awhile but I think in the long run it will pan out and MAC will become a nonissue NGO

 

[JennM]

seems like a few LA companies lately have been touting 100% hand caught outa sri lanka.

Somebody once sent me a tranship list that said "hand caught" once - and I know it's semantics, but aren't cyanide caught fish "hand caught"?

NET caught... and I know one could "net" a fish after juicing it... but somewhere there has to be a leap of faith... but the term "hand caught" always sent my red flags up.

Any time I've ever asked ANY wholesaler if their stuff was all net caught, I got an emphatic "YES!" Either somebody's really really naive, or somebody's lying.

Even locally, there is one wholesaler here, and I quizzed my assigned sales rep - and she told me that the current shipment of yellow tangs were all "net caught in PI"..... I mentioned that I thought yellow tangs only came from Hawaii, ergo they must be net caught.... but what about the Indo stuff, and "real" PI stuff? Even she was surprised that I mentioned that cyanide is a problem - and she's working on the inside. Of course she says (and I really think she believes) that all their stuff is net caught. How can she not know?????? I can only guess about the mortality numbers from what I've seen in their tanks..... 'nuff said.

It's frustrating at the best of times.

Jenn