US West Coast is vanguard of direct-to-consumer seafood phenomenon
COVID-19 permanently changed how consumers buy seafood – and food in general. Many Americans now want to receive delivery of their favorite food items at their homes, providing significant new business for seafood suppliers and wholesalers.
“With shutdowns in indoor dining, we looked at alternative ways of supporting Mount Cook,” Santa Cruz Fish CEO John Battendieri told SeafoodSource. “There is going to be an ongoing opportunity for home delivery: people are learning how to cook and there is a hesitancy to go back to restaurants, I’m not sure we will ever see the volume of people eating out prior to the pandemic.”
Santa Cruz delivers its Mount Cook Alpine Salmon fillets, lox, and salmon burgers to consumers in California and Nevada, where it can guarantee next-day delivery via GLS. Eventually, Santa Cruz will likely expand to shipping to states in close proximity to California.
“We are optimistic that it will become a more significant part of our business,” Battendieri said.
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Christine Blank, Contributing Editor