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Fukui's Monthly News Letter
Chiasson Aquaculture: Doing it right
In May of this year I attended the Aquaculture Association of Canada
(AAC) meetings in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. I was presenting
on oyster technology and participating in a group presentation
on advanced seafood marketing strategies.
The day before the conference, I took the time to drive up to Miscou
Island, on the North Eastern tip of New Brunswick, Canada, to visit
with Yvon Chiasson of Chiasson Aquaculture Ltée.
I had heard about Yvon and his operation some time ago, but
because of his semi-remote location I had not had a chance to visit
him. My interest really got peaked, however, when we supplied a
shellfish point of sale packaging system to Yvon, on his
initiative and understanding that to sell more product at a greater
profit he had to get more people to want his product.
Anybody who has been following my column over the last year will
remember "quality + quantity = profitability", as well as the
opportunities from product branding and consumer point of sale
packaging, that will cause higher consumer sales against the
competition of other protein sources.
I arrived in Lemeque, a fishing village just a few kilometers from
Miscou Island, the night before my scheduled meeting with Yvon.
After getting my accommodations set up I headed out to a local
pub-style restaurant for dinner. It was at this restaurant that
I got my first exposure to the work Yvon has been doing.
On the table was a triangle card that explained the benefits of
Yvon's cultured Fresh Blue mussels from New Brunswick. It included
a message from the president himself explaining how they
were grown, and a beautiful
colour picture of the product in a cream sauce, as well as the
distinctive brand name. The only thing that I would have added
would have been nutritional value for healthy eating benefits.
I have often commented in seminars around North America that the
marketing of your product doesn't have to carry a large cost
(which is the perception), and many times I have mentioned tabletop
cards as an inexpensive way to create demand. Yet in all my travels
this is the very first time I have seen it.
The beer, wine, liquor, chicken and other food or drink companies
have done very well with this type of promoting. They do it because
it works, and here in semi-remote NorthEast New Brunswick it works
as well.
I had the mussels and they were as delicious as they looked on the
picture. The server stated that with the cards on the table their
sales of mussels had gone up considerably, and she had to do less
suggestive selling, which she herself admitted in a busy environment
was most times difficult.
The next day as I arrived at Yvon's operation I was taken aback by
how clean and neat everything was, right down to the stylized name
on the building, to the delivery trucks, which were identified in
the same way.
The inside of the building matches what you would expect from the
outside in that it is clean and neat, with holding,
processing (declumping, grading & debyssing), and packing areas in
the plant. There is a small retail area just inside the reception
area adjacent to the offices.
The point I want readers to take here, is that in general most
aquaculture operations put very little effort into how their
operations look to the public. We all know that the public
perception of our industry is not as positive as it could be, and
this is one way to improve that image, both for
consumers and for potential investors.
While I was in discussion with Yvon, he showed me a poster that he has made up
for the retail serving counters, that again has similar
information to what he has on his table top cards. This way he is
getting his message out to both the food service and retail
sectors.
Yvon, a constant promoter, never missed a chance to get his name
and product out there. At our meeting I was served fresh mussels,
and before I left I was given a Chiasson Aquaculture cap.
With the purchase of the new packaging machine, his marketing
efforts that can be directly controlled by himself are now all in
place. The packages will be unique, with his special colour of
knitted net very similar to real fishing net, to give that
fresh-from-the-sea perception. It will have his label, which will
match the information on his table cards and posters. It will
have his logo, as well as nutritional information and suggested
recipes. A full service product market awareness driven by the
producer from the ground up, at a minimal cost per unit.
When I asked Yvon how come he was one of the few in the industry who
has figured out that marketing is as important as, or even more
important than, the farming operation, he just smiled and said
"why not?".
Borrowing from one of my earlier columns, we discussed and agreed
that the competition is not other mussel growers, it is other
sources of food protein. If you look around at any food market or
specialty store you will see that there is big competition among
pork, beef and poultry, but not for seafood.
We really haven't even begun to affect consumer consumption habits
with seafood, however when efforts like what Yvon has done are made,
they stand out quite loudly.
For every new consumer of mussels there is a referral trickle down
effect, which over a very short time reaches 25 people who might
be influenced
to try a product that they do not consider mainstream.
If you do not invest in marketing yourself and your product while
you are growing, you will be at the mercy of the commodity markets
down the road at harvest time.
On the farm operation side, Chiasson Aquaculture has been around
for 15 years. The growout cycle from larvae to market product is
18 - 24 months. Yvon has a total of 300 hectares under lease
at 4 different sites, with roughly ½ hour sail between sites.
He harvests both winter and summer, and has holding facilities
to service his clients' needs during shoulder harvest time.
90% of his product is sold in the province of Quebec, and of that
10% is sold in the local region. Current production is
approximately 1 million pounds, and plans are on track to double
this within 2 years.
There are 20 people on average employed at Chiasson Aquaculture.
They have two work boats. One is a preparation work barge with a
small hydraulic outboard motor, and his main vessel is a specially
built turbo diesel power barge with lots of hydraulic power to run
the work crane, star wheels and automatic continuous socking
machines. It has a stern mounted wheelhouse and is equipped
with sounder, radar and radios.
Future plans include getting back into oysters, which Yvon
tried without success a number of years ago. However, with new
husbandry technology, he feels that the time is right to re-address
this species.
Yvon has not been afraid to invest or to reinvest in new technology
in mussel husbandry gear. He, like many, used to operate single
dropper sock longlines, however when continuous socking technology
became available, he moved into this area.
Yvon follows some very primary rules of success in his business.
Spend money to make money, invest in new technologies as soon as
they are available, because labour will always cost more. Market
your product and yourself as hard as you farm mussels, and deliver
the quality and quantities that you claim you can.
Yvon Chiasson has one of the few mussel companies in North America
that is doing it right!
Contact Don Bishop at:
Fukui North America
110-B Bonnechere St.W.
Eganville, Ontario K0J 1T0
CANADA
Tel: 613-625-1704
Fax: 613-625-2688
Email: don@bishopaquatic.com
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