Saving Seafood

Walmart chooses Pacific Island Tuna for its in-house brand

October 6, 2021 — A partnership between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and The Nature Conservancy will supply canned tuna to Walmart stores for the store’s Great Value brand across the United States.

The new joint venture, dubbed Pacific Island Tuna (PIT), is “designed to transform the global canned tuna supply chain,” according to a Nature Conservancy announcement. The new business model is intended to give Pacific islanders the ability to benefit from their tuna resources by directing 100 percent of long-term net profits back to them while utilizing a sustainable model of fishing and production.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Walmart, Target report strong grocery sales in Q2; SNAP benefits increased

August 19, 2021 — Walmart and Target have reported higher grocery sales in Q2 2021, with Walmart’s sales hitting USD 2.4 billion (EUR 2.1 billion) – up 6 percent compared to Q2 2020 – and Target’s up by “low double-digits,” according to Target Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Christina Hennington

Overall same-store sales at Target grew 8.9 percent in the quarter, on top of record growth of 24.3 percent last year, and its digital comparable sales grew 10 percent after realizing growth of 195 percent last year, Hennington said on the retailer’s Q2 earnings call, according to Progressive Grocer.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US grocery outlook bright, with Amazon set to overtake Walmart as largest retailer

May 3, 2021 — The outlook for United States retailers and grocers is strong, according to National Retail Federation (NRF) Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz.

As Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19, they are developing a more positive economic outlook, and they’re visits into physical stores are rising, according to Kleinhenz. As a result, the U.S. economy is on firm footing and could see its fastest growth in more than three decades.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

SARAH HALZACK: Something Fishy Is Going On in American Kitchens

January 25, 2021 — If you could peek inside America’s cupboards and refrigerators, you’d see tableaus that capture changes wrought by the pandemic: Towers of paper goods, loads of comfort food, caches of upmarket coffee. You might also be surprised to see an unusual amount of seafood.

Frozen seafood sales at U.S. supermarkets and other food retailers rose 26% in the four weeks ended Dec. 27 from a year earlier, according to market research company IRI, far stronger than the 6% growth for consumer packaged goods overall. Fresh seafood sales rose 25% in the same period. That strong result wasn’t just a holiday binge: Since the onset of the pandemic, seafood sales growth has tended to outpace that of the grocery store as a whole by a comfortable margin.

The seafood spending surge is an example of the hard-to-foresee ways the pandemic continues to displace and redirect consumer demand. Typically, an outsize share of Americans’ spending on seafood is at restaurants. Consumers spent $69.6 billion in 2017 on seafood at restaurants and other food-service venues, according to a U.S. government report, compared with $32.5 billion spent at stores for home consumption. But with many white-tablecloth dining rooms closed or operating at reduced capacity during the pandemic, shoppers who perhaps rarely cooked seafood before have decided to put seared salmon, shrimp scampi and steamed lobsters on their own kitchen tables.

The trend is apparent everywhere, from big-box retailers to discount chains and traditional supermarkets. Walmart Inc. has had such strong growth in both fresh and frozen seafood at its U.S. business during the pandemic that the giant expanded its fresh shellfish offering in the fall. Lidl said it had a “double-digit” increase in seafood sales in the past year, while Albertsons Cos. executives said on a January earnings call that seafood sales had delivered quarterly comparable sales growth above the company average. Conventional supermarket Stop & Shop said it is carrying a bigger selection of seafood as shoppers have increased purchases, while Whole Foods Market is experiencing “huge growth” in frozen seafood, according to Wesley Rose, the chain’s vice president for seafood. That led the upscale chain to expand its selection to include value packs of halibut, barramundi and arctic char. With fresh offerings such as red snapper also selling well, Whole Foods has added black cod and farm-raised striped bass to fish counters at most of its stores.

Read the full opinion piece at Bloomberg

Walmart links sustainability initiative to higher seafood sales

October 27, 2020 — Walmart stores that ran a targeted sustainable seafood campaign have seen a significant lift in fresh seafood sales, an executive with the leading global retailer said.

Starting this spring, Walmart launched a massive store signage campaign for both fresh and frozen seafood “to communicate more clearly to customers the quality, value, and sustainability of the seafood they buy at Walmart,” Jacqui Lyons, divisional merchandise manager for seafood and seasonal meat for Walmart U.S. said in a press release from FMI – The Food Industry Association.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Grocery e-commerce surge to continue, despite drop in August

September 16, 2020 — Kroger, Walmart, Target, Albertsons, and other major U.S. grocery chains are experiencing record e-commerce grocery sales. And while total grocery e-commerce sales declined in August, analysts expect stronger future growth.

U.S. grocery delivery and pickup sales for August totaled USD 5.7 billion (EUR 4.8 billion), down from their peak in June, according to the August 2020 Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Families File First Wave of Covid-19 Lawsuits Against Companies Over Worker Deaths

July 31, 2020 — Employers across the country are being sued by the families of workers who contend their loved ones contracted lethal cases of Covid-19 on the job, a new legal front that shows the risks of reopening workplaces.

Walmart Inc., Safeway Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and some health-care facilities have been sued for gross negligence or wrongful death since the coronavirus pandemic began unfolding in March. Employees’ loved ones contend the companies failed to protect workers from the deadly virus and should compensate their family members as a result. Workers who survived the virus also are suing to have medical bills, future earnings and other damages paid out.

In responding to the lawsuits, employers have said they took steps to combat the virus, including screening workers for signs of illness, requiring they wear masks, sanitizing workspaces and limiting the number of customers inside stores. Some point out that it is impossible to know where or how their workers contracted Covid-19, particularly as it spreads more widely across the country.

The new coronavirus has created a global health and economic crisis, responsible for the death of more than 150,000 people in the U.S. while straining resources and institutions.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal

Walmart, Major Retailers Call for Governments to Ensure Sustainably Produced Tuna during COVID-19

May 7, 2020 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and more than 50 retailers, brands, and seafood companies,* including Walmart, Publix, Nestle, Carrefour, and Tesco, today called on the United States, European Union, and approximately 45 governments to implement electronic monitoring in tuna fisheries to protect workers and ensure fishing continues to be sustainable.

“We are key stakeholders in these fisheries and strongly wish to see the environmental impact of these fisheries managed in a manner consistent with our procurement specifications for sustainable sourcing,” the companies wrote.

In a letter issued today, the companies urged the governments to move rapidly and urgently through the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to make electronic monitoring an accepted alternative to human observer coverage in tuna fisheries. This technology already exists, but the governments and RFMOs have been slow to adopt its use.

In April, at-sea observer programs in tuna fisheries were suspended by the RFMOs, the international governmental bodies responsible for their management, due to COVID-19. Observers document activities and collect data essential to conservation.

The companies also called for greater transparency to advance the fully effective implementation of electronic monitoring on all fleets and regular review of the COVID-19 situation and risks of restoring human at-sea observers at the earliest safe and practical date.

*Afritex Ventures Limited, Aldi North, Aldi South, Asda, Beaver Street Fisheries, BirdLife International, Carrefour France, Congalsa, Culinary Collaborations LLC, D&E Import LLC, Direct Ocean, Earthworm, Euclid Fish Company, Fish Is Life, Fishwise, Fortune Fish Co., Frinsa, Giant Eagle, IncredibleFish, Inland Seafoods, Ipswich Shellfish Group, Jealsa/We Sea, Maguro Foods, Mercadona, Metro France, Morrisons, Nestle, New England Seafood International, North Atlantic Inc., Profand, Publix, Rema Foods, Sainsburys, Santa Monica Seafood, Sea Delight, Seacore Seafood Inc., Seafood Imports, Sea Pact, Seattle Fish Co., Stavis Seafoods, Sysco France, Tesco, The Fishin Co., True Worlds Food, True Worlds Group, TUPA, Walmart

Consumers Remain Skeptical but Hopeful as States Begin to Reopen

May 7, 2020 — Now that states are beginning to reopen non-essential businesses, consumers are once again expressing feelings of excitement, fear, and uncertainty. Often, these feelings are informed by their view on how the health crisis compares to the economic one. According to a recent report by Datassential, restaurants can still find ways to address that tension through service and outreach that emphasizes community building.

The data shows that concern about the coronavirus has plateaued. With cases still growing in some locations and no major breakthroughs have been made on the testing front, almost 60% of Americans are “very worried” about their own personal health. However, this percentage has remained about steady for the past three weeks, with a decrease of 7% from the beginning of April.

Read the full story at Seafood News