This marketing plan outlines the strategic direction for Atlantic Frost Seafood LLC (AFS), a wholesale seafood processor based in New England. The plan covers AFS's unique mesh-bagged bait product concept targeting commercial crab and lobster fishermen, recreational sport fishermen, and wildlife preserves such as zoos and aquariums. It presents a full situation analysis including SWOT, competitive comparison, macro-level industry data, and customer profiling. Key strategies address penetration pricing, direct-to-fleet distribution, regional distributor acquisition, and a trusted-advisor branding platform. The plan projects $500,000 in incremental revenue from two million pounds of packaged bait sold at $0.25 per pound and outlines advertising, public relations, and customer-endorsement tactics to build AFS's market identity.
Atlantic Frost Seafood (AFS) is a wholesale seafood processor. Wholesale demand is constant and increasing, driven by a variety of segments seeking fresh seafood processed into various products used as bait by both recreational and commercial fishermen. In addition, wildlife preserves including zoos and commercial aquariums are increasingly demanding high-quality seafood for feeding animals on exhibit. AFS's marketing efforts, as defined in this plan, are based on selling whole or cut mackerel, herring, and combinations of the two through distribution and direct sales to commercial crab fishermen. The quality and standards that commercial fishermen and wildlife preserves require are high, with the latter requiring near human-edible quality levels for the health of their animals.
This marketing plan creates the following key strategies to pursue this market:
Distribution Strategy Objective: Sign three regional distributors in the next twelve months throughout New England, using exceptional product quality as the primary differentiator, followed by availability, and lastly price.
Product Strategy Objective: Focus on the market potential for bagged bait consisting of herring, mackerel, and menhaden for the first phase of the product strategy, followed by additional fish that distributors, commercial and recreational fishermen, and wildlife preserves require. The product strategy focuses on packaging herring, mackerel, and menhaden in both whole and chopped forms. It is anticipated that during the first full year of operations, variations in packaging and fish products will be requested, and AFS will work diligently to create products that align with evolving customer needs. The uniqueness of bagged bait for these customers, along with aggressive pricing and availability, is seen as critical to the growth of AFS.
Pricing Strategy Objective: The initial value proposition of the company is being the most affordable producer of processed seafood products in the Northeastern US with exceptional freshness and service. Supporting this value proposition is a competitive pricing strategy that stresses freshness and availability over breadth of product offerings and depth of delivery options. The core pricing strategy is to be one of the most aggressive yet profitable in the market, delivering on the promise of freshness at a fair price.
Promotional Strategy Objective: Taking a multi-faceted approach to promotion and marketing, the launch of the company in the first quarter of 2010 will involve an aggressive push into seafood distributors throughout the Northeastern US as the primary audience of all marketing and launch efforts, followed by secondary promotional strategies targeting seafood distributors whose markets include commercial and recreational fishermen and wildlife preserves.
Atlantic Frost Seafood (AFS) serves the global seafood market, bringing the bounty of the sea to the table. As a separate by-product line, AFS facilitates fishing smarter, not harder. In bait production, AFS will increase profits by offering added value via easy-to-use, mesh-bagged bait to an expanding customer base. AFS's immediate potential of 2 million pounds of value-added bait sold to two market groups at $0.25 per pound totals $500,000 in additional revenue to the company.
The specific marketing objectives for AFS include the following:
1. Add three regional seafood processing distributors throughout the Northeast US in the next twelve months.
2. Validate product strategies and market assumptions around herring, mackerel, and menhaden — whole, cut, and mixed varieties of packaging — through sales calls with regional distributors, commercial fishing fleets, and independent stores that sell to wildlife preserves including zoos and commercial aquariums.
3. Define a company-wide launch strategy by stressing the value proposition of being the quality and price leader in processed seafood, emphasizing the unique packaging that makes baiting easier to accomplish for commercial and recreational fishermen and for fish and mammal handlers in wildlife preserves.
Products and Services: Atlantic Frost Seafood provides fresh-frozen, sorted pelagic seafood products directly to the wholesale market. As a twist on waste fish and bait products, AFS is promoting bagged bait to commercial lobster fishermen and sport fishermen. The unique size and ease-of-use packaging offers a cost-effective solution to the hand bait bag and jar-stuffing operations currently in use.
Projected Outcomes: The present by-product is currently costing the company for disposal or producing no revenue. Simple weighing and packaging will add income that covers the fixed costs of the primary product line. The long-term vision is two-fold: (1) expand the customer base, and (2) broaden the by-product lines. By amortizing the capital expense over a two-year period, the venture will produce a profit in the second quarter of the first year.
Strengths: Bagged baitfish utilizes seafood by-products that would otherwise be disposed of. This eliminates disposal costs and dumping and generates higher gross margins for AFS through the more efficient use of cut and bagged herring and mackerel.
Weaknesses: There is seasonal demand. Mounting cold storage cost is a factor for product held to present a year-round supply (Hartnett, et al.).
Opportunities: There is potential for expansion to other bait markets once the company is fully operational.
Threats: Product may be sold at a loss. Changes in the bait market may include: (1) shifts in fishermen's requirements, and/or (2) changes in sport bait trends.
The local crab bait market is approximately 2,000,000 pounds. AFS currently sells to six bait customers. Current customers will continue to purchase frozen block. Lobster and sport fishermen will consider bagged bait if offered at market value. Providing an alternative to solid block frozen bait opens the door to these new customers.
Company/Internal Analysis — Strength: AFS has proximity to and availability of raw material; the resource is available at no additional cost. Material cost is negligible, and AFS has the main components of labor and facility already in place.
Company/Internal Analysis — Weakness: AFS is new to the bait market. The mesh bagging machine and scale represent a $50,000 capital expenditure.
Technological Competency: AFS's staff is well versed in technology. The business office is networked for file sharing, and the Internet is used as a source for data gathering and communications. An e-commerce site is not in the immediate future, as AFS is not pursuing retail consumers. Though AFS is not currently utilizing a website as a marketing tool, one will be developed in the future. A hard firewall security system is in place.
Macro-Level Market (Industry) Analysis: According to industry research from several sources including DataMonitor (1998), the growth in consumption of seafood has continued steadily. Compared to a rate of 15.2 pounds in the mid-1990s, per capita seafood consumption stood at nearly 16 pounds in 2003. Fresh and frozen fish accounted for more than 10.3 pounds of this total.
The value of shipments in the fresh and frozen seafood processing industry grew from $6.85 billion in 1999 to $7.56 billion in 2002. While the number of establishments involved in processing decreased to fewer than 600, the number of employees in the industry continued to rise. In 1996, there were 32,400 production workers; by 2002, this number had reached more than 36,000.
The growth of seafood processors also continued at a rapid pace according to DataMonitor (1998) and other industry research services including Seafoodanalyst.com (2006), both of which predicted that wholesale seafood processor growth would continue at a 6% rate throughout the coming ten years (Gunn, Millar, & Newbold, p. 241).
Product/Service Analysis: Currently, AFS offers whole frozen food-grade pelagic fish, sorted by size and quality. Whole fresh pelagic baitfish and fresh broken mixed bait are offered as a result of small and low-quality product. Whole or broken pelagic baitfish is also frozen in a nude block. The latter has profitability potential as a value-added product via mesh bagging in variable weights per customer requirements.
The following table summarizes AFS's competitive position relative to key rivals on core product and service attributes:
"Crab, lobster, sport fishermen, and competitor comparison"
"Primary surveys, secondary research, and customer profiles"
"Trusted-advisor brand, PR, endorsements, and media placements"
"Mesh bait packaging, penetration pricing, direct sales"
"Scorecard tracking, competitor directory, and references"
You’re 37% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 5 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.