Boyer’s 30+ year seafood career and industry expertise brings a fresh perspective to the organization
DENVER CO, June 30 2023 –– The Western Association of Food & Drug Officials (WAFDO) changes bylaws to appoint Seattle Fish Co.’s Ken Boyer as 2023 President. As the first ever industry member to hold an officer position, Boyer draws on 30+ years of seafood industry experience to bring a fresh perspective to the organization that is tasked with keeping the Western region’s food supply safe.
“When I first joined WAFDO nine years ago, I noticed a lack of food industry experts in leadership positions,” shares Boyer. “I’m honored to not only represent the seafood sector, but to invest time in this community to provide a perspective from industry experts. During my presidency this year, I intend to continue WAFDO’s incredible work and to seek to foster increased collaboration from industry experts within the organization and on the leadership board.”
For Boyer, what started as an entry-level job turned into a 30+ year lifelong career dedicated to sustainable seafood with Denver-based Seattle Fish Co. He spent nearly a decade with WAFDO as an associate, and quickly rose through the ranks as not only one of the only industry voices, but the only voice from the seafood sector. He remains on the Seattle Fish Co. team where he trains and mentors other industry members as one of the only AFDO certified instructors in Colorado. He teaches seafood HACCP certified courses to industry and regulatory partners around the country.
“Effective and proactive food safety systems are a cornerstone in building consumer trust in our food supply and Ken is an inspirational leader in this area,” shares Seattle Fish Co. President & CEO, Derek Figueroa. “We’re incredibly proud to have a Seattle Fish Co. employee advocate for our industry in such an impactful way. He’s already making waves by becoming their first industry President, so we can’t wait to see how his passion and dedication reverberates through WAFDO for years to come.”
About WAFDO The Western Association of Food and Drug Officials (WAFDO) is a non-profit association organized for the purpose of improving communication and cooperation with the respective local, state, and federal programs, and for promoting the development and enforcement of uniform food, drug, and consumer protection laws.
About Seattle Fish Co. For more than 100 years, Seattle Fish Co. has been dedicated to serving those who serve others. Recognized for playing a major role in making fresh seafood available in the Rocky Mountain region, Seattle Fish Company sources and distributes sustainable seafood and gourmet provisions daily from around the world, providing products of the highest quality to over 1,400 restaurants and retailers. Seattle Fish Co. is dedicated to fostering sustainable fishing practices, including supporting local aquaculture farms, as well as fishery improvement projects around the world, ensuring that seafood as a healthful protein is available for all, for generations to come. For more information, please visit Seattle Fish Company’s website at www.seattlefish.com
Seattle Fish Company & Gourmet Provisions is excited to announce that Sara Salyer has been promoted to Inventory Control Manager, joining the company’s leadership team.
Sara started her career at Seattle Fish in June of 2017 and has worked in a variety of roles, most recently as the Supervisor of Freight and Inventory. In this new Inventory Control Manager position, Sara leads all Inventory and Receiving activities and teams, while also working closely with the Freight and Quality Teams.
The top priority of this position will be to improve inventory accuracy through careful receiving procedures, robust processes that reflect the inventory activity in our warehouse, and reconciling variances to drive improvement. Additionally, Sara will supervise our receiving, inventory, and freight supervisors in this position.
In her new role, Sara has most enjoyed getting to work on transforming our employee experience and increasing our employee engagement. “I enjoy working as a part of a team and am passionate about leading others down the path to finding their true potential,” said Sara.
“From the moment I started working with Sara, I was impressed by her highly engaging leadership style and ability to influence change,” said Chris Franklin, Director of Operations. “She’s been instrumental in implementing process improvement across multiple departments. Sara has a bright future and I’m excited to see her continue to expand her influence across the entire organization.”
Get to know Sara Salyer better by reading her Q&A below!
What are your favorite ways to unwind outside of work?
My favorite things to do outside of work are spending time with my big, silly family in the mountains, hiking, biking, and camping. I also love live music and I will take any opportunity to be outside dancing at Red Rocks to my favorite bands!
What’s your favorite seafood? How do you like to prepare it?
I can’t pick one favorite! I honestly love them all and am always excited to taste something new and then challenge myself to prepare it at home and introduce it to my family.
This month our Fun Fish is Sheepshead! Sheepshead are caught year-round off the east and west coasts of Florida and are harvested in a variety of ways, including cast net, speared or hook and line. Their diet consists mainly of barnacles, baby crabs, and oysters. The mouth (sometimes called “human teeth”) is designed to crack the hard shell of the barnacles or oysters it eats!
Sheepshead is sweet and delicious with a slight shellfish flavor. Its meat is firm, moist and a bit oily. This oil & moisture content contributes to its sweet, firm and flaky feel on the mouth. There are several ways to prepare this fish, from boiling, grilling, baking, frying or roasting the whole fish.
This month we are featuring a recipe from Chili Pepper Madness of Blackened Sheepshead with Basil-Lime Cream Sauce. Click here for the full recipe!
The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) recently hosted the 11th anniversary of The Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) from January 16-20, 2023, in Palm Springs, California. GSMC is an annual conference that offers high-caliber insights into trends and provides expertise on seafood products, markets, and consumers.
Savanna Ronco, Seattle Fish Company’s Marketing & Brand Specialist, attended the conference, held at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs. Savanna is an active member of NFI’s Communications & Education Committee and will be participating in the NFI Future Leaders program in 2023.
This year’s GSMC agenda featured many expert speakers from both inside and outside of the seafood industry – shedding light on relevant topics such as retail, food service, economics, freight, and other sectors. While the seafood industry will continue to be unpredictable throughout 2023, Seattle Fish Company will continue to collaborate with NFI and other industry partners to voice current challenges and develop solutions.
Below are a few key takeaways from the 2023 GSMC Conference:
1 – Consumer buying power is shifting to “younger” Americans.
A big topic of conversation at this year’s GSMC was that Millennials and Gen Z now make up over 40% of the US population. According to the US census, by the year 2030 half of all Americans will be Millennials, Gen Z, or younger. Chris DuBois, EVP and Practice Leader at IRi, suggests that a massive change is coming, as the younger generations begin to hold most of the buying power both in retail and foodservice. For seafood in particular, IRi has noticed that millennials are purchasing much less seafood than boomers, and the climate is “ripe to embrace new ways to drive demand”, including more demand for storytelling, informational display cards or QR codes, or cooking instructions with health benefits.
Kelly Fecher of Datassential shared that 67% of Gen Z consumers have taken a video of a dish at a restaurant or meal at home and shared to social media. As the buying power shifts to younger Americans, they will relate to restaurants and retail stores that engage with them on social media, and many state that they would go to a restaurant they’ve never been to specifically to try a dish they saw online. Additionally, video sites like Instagram and TikTok continue to drive new food trends, like the butter boards that went viral in 2022. Fechner reported that 76% of consumers are excited about new food & beverage trends in 2023 and 74% of restaurant operators say that new food & beverage trends will be important to their business in the upcoming year.
2 – “Transparency is the cornerstone of trust in food.”
Mickie French, Executive Director of The Center for Food Integrity, spoke about “Changing the Tide on Consumer Trust”, saying that “Trust is every organization’s most valuable intangible asset.” French shared that “shared values are 3-5 times more important to building trust than sharing facts or demonstrating technical skills/expertise.” According to Richard Barry of NFI, this isn’t a “clear cut win for seafood” because the industry has so much information to share, which makes it all the more important that seafood companies and distributors act as a trusted source of information and a valuable partner to consumers.
French stated that younger consumers, in particular, expect transparency in their food system, with 83% wanting companies that align with their values. Additionally, Gen Z consumers are taking a more holistic approach to food & health and are the only generation putting mental health in the Top 3 benefits sought from food, beverage, and nutrients. Her suggestions for the seafood industry were to embrace the skepticism, share why you care (which is as important as what you know), and don’t overload people with facts, instead focusing on the most important information in addition to shared values.
3 – GSMC 2023 Insights & Trends
Fechner of Datassential shared that 32% of consumers say they’ll never visit restaurants as often as they did before the pandemic, which is understandably concerning for many people in the hospitality industry. This could be for a number of reasons, including the surprising “staying power” of working from home, as well as people moving from the cities to the suburbs, or from the suburbs to a more rural area, as a result of the pandemic. She suggests that operators will have to “step up their game” to win these consumers back. One of the ways she’s seen restaurants do this is by adding items to your menu with high “purchase intent” and “draw”, meaning an item that people come to your restaurant specifically to enjoy, like Joe’s Crab Shack’s “Build your own Boil”.
Labor and staffing continue to be a major issue for the hospitality industry, particularly in foodservice. Chef Andrew Gruel of Calico Fish House in California shared on a panel that the labor challenges have resulted in him considering and testing value added products for the first time as a chef to alleviate some of the burden on his back-of-house staff. Michael Brennan of Specialty Restaurants Corporation agreed, adding that his group is also testing 4-day work weeks, daily staff meals, and extra incentives for management.
Steve Sands, President of Protein Brands at Performance Food Group, did a presentation on “Markets and Marketing Trends in Animal Protein”, which focused largely on the comparison between premium beef and seafood. Sands said, “Even though beef is by far your most expensive protein, it is not slowing down people’s consumption.” One of the reasons for this is that beef is “far ahead of other proteins” on branding and telling a story. However, with the widespread drought in 2022, the USDA is predicting a drop in beef output in 2023, up to 9% in Q3 and Q4. This means that operators need to be prepared for increased costs as well as thinking “outside of the box” on other proteins to fill the void.
Savanna recommends:
Connect servers and diners with your food & ingredients. Data shows that now, more than ever, consumers are interested in where their food comes from. They want to know the story behind the dish you are serving or ingredients you choose, what family farmers they might be supporting, or what social/environmental impact they are making by choosing to support your restaurant or retail store. Encourage your diners to share stories or videos online with a tag to your restaurant so you can repost.
Take a look at the biggest uses of labor in your operation and evaluate which brings benefit to the customer, and what might be outsourced with no loss of value. Create space to experiment or research options that you may not have considered in the pre-pandemic world, such as changing portion sizes, labor scheduling, specials, value added products, etc.
Understanding how shoppers and diners engage with seafood and other proteins, the forces that shape that engagement, and how external forces impact our industry will continue be important. Look for Seattle Fish Co. to continue to invest in industry leadership that shapes our marketplace, keep our pulse on the trends as well as important information you need, and share this with you in a meaningful manner.
This year, Sea Pact has committed to publishing a quarterly newsletter to share information with its members, such as organizational updates, current projects the group is funding, and more. Sea Pact is a group of leading North American Seafood Companies dedicated to driving stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic, and environmental responsibility throughout the global seafood supply chain.
As a founding member of Sea Pact, Seattle Fish Company is excited to share this quarter’s newsletter with our customers, vendors and community, providing updates and transparency around the work we do within the group.
One of the exciting things mentioned in the newsletter was Sea Pact members and advisors gathering in-person for their annual meeting in Atlanta, which Hamish Walker, Seattle Fish Co.’s Chief Sustainability and Development Officer, attended. During the meeting, Sea Pact members assessed eleven project proposals and selected two for funding to conclude their second funding cycle of the year. Members and advisors also reviewed Sea Pact’s current work plan and strategic priorities, assessing progress as well as opportunities for efforts in 2023.
Time was also dedicated to evaluating new potential strategic priorities and topics, including climate change, US fisheries engagement, and sustainability reporting. Hamish Walker presented on SFC’s efforts to assess the company’s carbon footprint and reduce emissions, providing a model for other Sea Pact members to consider. Sea Pact was also joined by Ocean Strategies for a session on US fishery issues and engagement. There is strong interest from Sea Pact members to further support US fisheries with an approach that aligns with Sea Pact’s responsible domestic aquaculture strategic priority. Outcomes from the meeting will be incorporated into Sea Pact’s 2023 work plan.
Look for more information and updates on these projects in the year to come. If you’d like to sign up to receive Sea Pact’s quarterly newsletters, click here.