JOINT PROMOTION - IS WHAT TUNA NEEDS RIGHT NOW !

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JOINT PROMOTION - IS WHAT TUNA NEEDS RIGHT NOW !
By Henk Brus (Feb. 19, 01)

At the family home we are regular eaters of salmon steaks, also the kids love it. We buy them at the local supermarkets portion packed, vacuum deep frozen. In this style many salmon steaks are more and more finding their way to the average European dinner table.

Being a tuna-eater and -lover, I was very much looking forward to a juicy tuna steak on the plate, but unfortunately a shopping expedition past several of the local supermarkets did not produce a single frozen tuna steak. Yes, indeed "fresh" steaks were available at the local fishmonger but that does not fit with our weekly shopping routine! Longing for your tuna steak, you see the opportunities ! But at the same time you wonder why salmon is so popular in fresh frozen, and tuna only as canned ? I believe the reason is partly found in the traditional local consumption patterns, but also to a large extend in the lack of promotion given to tuna. As far as I can remember there has only ever been one International promotion campaign touching tuna : The EII campaign focussed at Dolphin Safe Tuna. In my business life experience this has also been the most effective one. Hardly ever I can explain which trade I am in, without people immediately relating to dolphins.

This "promotional" campaign has probably been the most devastating ever to the tuna business, and a possible future campaign against the use of hydro-protein in canned tuna could even further worsen the reputation of tuna as a reliable and healthy food. Salmon on the contrary has enjoyed great support. The U.S, Norwegian, Scottish, Irish salmon industries, with support of their governments have been actively promoting salmon, canned, smoked, fresh and frozen, cooked. We have all stumbled over these promotional stands for the last decade at all major seafood shows,... but where did we find the tuna stands ????

Tuna promotion has been entirely a brand related issue, lacking any support of local governments, probably because most of them are developing countries, which are lacking funds. In Europe promotional fishery funds have been mostly spend on promoting the fish caught by the local fleets or fish farms, not imported fish.

With the BSE/Beef crisis on the way and with beef consumption in Germany currently down by and astonishing 50%, Italy and Spain about 30%, and France 25%, it is evident that there has never, ever been a better time to promote our seafood product. Tuna, as a steak, can be an excellent replacement for beef, even lots more healthy and already so many consumers are familiar with canned tuna. It is exactly this familiarity of tuna in the canned form that we should use to promote "Tuna as Healthy Food", and introduce new ways of eating tuna as sahimi or cooked steaks.

In order to get the message across in a constructive sense, local tuna fishing and production industries should turn to their governments, to initiate joint promotional campaigns, possibly partly sponsored by those companies involved. Such awareness campaigns have proved to be quite successful in the past, and for example in Japan steps have been taking this way. Joint campaigns which are not brand-related, independent and which focus less on market share and brand image, but more on public health awareness, can be highly effective. Such a joint promotion will be able to create a growing demand for tuna, canned or fresh frozen in local markets. It can also lead to increased investment in the highly potential tuna steak production, and boost demand. A trend which boat-owners are so much pushing for. Joint promotion could be a valuable subject at the next World Tuna Boat Owners (WTPO) meeting March 1-3 2001 in Ecuador !

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