CONXEMAR Round-up Part 4: Seafood Industry Reality vs. Perception

Team Dealboard recently attended CONXEMAR, the International Fair of Frozen Seafood organized by the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of Fisheries and Aquaculture Products. While there, we engaged in 120 conversations with representatives from over 100 companies in the seafood industry. We share our observations about the CONXEMAR event, the current state of the seafood industry, and the impact of COVID in this final entry of a multi-part series.

When we speak with friends who are not close to the seafood industry, they often ask, “it’s very old school, isn’t it?” That demands push-back. After over 100+ conversations with producers, processors, brokers and exporters who attended CONXEMAR, it’s clear that while this industry which thrives on tradition and relationships, it is certainly not old-school in its outlook.

The Dealboard team introduced a new concept in our conversations at CONXEMAR – that of an online platform dedicated to making it easier for buyers and sellers of seafood to find one another, communicate with one another, build trust in one another, and negotiate transactions.

An old school industry would be content with how these things are done today. An old school industry wouldn’t see value in making any changes. But an old school industry didn’t show up to CONXEMAR. Instead, the new concept was greeted with curiosity, openness, and – once the benefits became clear – enthusiasm. We engaged in joint brainstorming about the different ways sales reps, sales managers and others would benefit from the concept.

Old school? We can count on one hand the number of companies we spoke with who preferred that things remain as they are. This is an industry ready for change. One Spain-based importer and processor captured consensus well with her sudden realization: “this is the future.”

The seafood industry has weathered some direct hits through the pandemic and supply chain uncertainties. It has demonstrated its resilience, resourcefulness, and adaptability and grit. We’re seeing energy, forward-looking resolve, and enterprising creativity in our conversations.

There is an obvious disconnect between the current state of the industry and the outsider’s perception of it. Each of us in the industry has a hand in changing that perception, over time. Have you thought about practical steps you can take?

CONXEMAR Round-up Part 3: Who Do You Trust, and How?

Team Dealboard recently attended CONXEMAR, the International Fair of Frozen Seafood organized by the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of Fisheries and Aquaculture Products. While there, we engaged in 120 conversations with representatives from over 100 companies in the seafood industry. We share our observations about the CONXEMAR event, the current state of the seafood industry, and the impact of COVID in this multi-part series.

Relationships matter. We do business with those who we’ve successfully done business with before. We build trust based on observing each other’s patterns of behavior. And if we’ve had an issue or dispute, we make note of those who strive to do right by others and honor “the spirit of the agreement” rather than those who ruthlessly work their advantage on the basis of a technicality. These concepts aren’t just for the seafood industry, they apply to life as a whole.

But, when it comes to relationships, the seafood industry has a scalability problem. We know that at the fringes of this industry, there are plenty of sketchy operations. Each of us every day faces decisions about whether to permit smaller companies to make big purchases, and from time to time every one of us finds ourselves in a disagreement over something which had previously been agreed. It’s no wonder many seafood buyer/seller relationships, the most successful ones, have been built and strengthened over generations.

But now, fisheries in some locations are threatened by climate change, forcing us to seek new suppliers in other regions. And, despite the generations-long history of many seafood trading relationships, the pandemic introduced unprecedented supply chain volatility and consumer demand uncertainty, leading many parties to exit the industry or seek shelter under bankruptcy proceedings.

All of this puts pressure on relationships, and forces all of us to seek new ones. Lack of trust becomes a huge barrier to growing your network. This was a frequent topic in our conversations at CONXEMAR. Any time a new party wants to purchase goods and services, developing trust over a generation is too long to wait for the necessary trust to develop.

There are ways to mitigate this, of course – word of mouth referrals, testing new parties through small transactions first, or obtaining credit insurance, for example. But each of these takes time, or gets expensive.

How do you build trust? Is your process to build trust a barrier or an enabler for your business growth?

CONXEMAR Round-up Part 2: Channel Fatigue

Team Dealboard recently attended CONXEMAR, the International Fair of Frozen Seafood organized by the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of Fisheries and Aquaculture Products. While there, we engaged in 120 conversations with representatives from over 100 companies in the seafood industry. We share our observations about the CONXEMAR event, the current state of the seafood industry, and the impact of COVID in this multi-part series.

One outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rise of videoconferencing. Almost overnight, in the middle of March, 2020, businesses, organizations and families across the world pivoted to video conferencing as a primary means of communication. The ramp-up was astounding – years worth of digital transformation achieved in mere months; millions of people adopting new systems within weeks for both business and personal use.

But, as we discussed in our last post, videoconferencing is no substitute for human contact. And, the other ways we used to communicate – WhatsApp, Skype, mobile phone, email and more – haven’t gone away. Where previously we had, say, 6-8 ways to get in touch with someone, now we have 10-20 with the acceptance of Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other videoconferencing facilities. How many channels are too many, and what happens when we reach channel overload?

Our conversations at CONXEMAR indicate that the seafood industry has reached channel overload, and it’s causing a lot of overhead. With only very few exceptions, teams buying or selling seafood products are using multiple ways to contact each other, to build relationships and to negotiate and finalize transactions. We heard time and time again about how frustrating and inefficient it is to juggle all of these different methods at the same time. Across all of our conversations, we didn’t hear even one person say “I use all of these channels because I love them all.”

To make matters worse, none of the commonly used communication channels is really optimized for the unique conditions of the seafood industry. Alibaba might be OK for selling retail goods to the general public, but try posting your products there to attract wholesalers, and you’ll quickly find you’re sharing more information with more unknown and untrusted parties than you'd like.

We’ve added channels, but haven’t taken any of the old ones away yet. Have you experienced channel fatigue? How are you coping?

CONXEMAR Round-up Part 1: The New Normal is Surprisingly Like The Old Normal

Team Dealboard recently attended CONXEMAR, the International Fair of Frozen Seafood organized by the Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of Fisheries and Aquaculture Products. While there, we engaged in 120 conversations with representatives from over 100 companies in the seafood industry. We share our observations about the CONXEMAR event, the current state of the seafood industry, and the impact of COVID in this multi-part series.

CONXEMAR was one of the first in-person seafood industry events of its scale to be conducted after rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. Following the extended lockdown of the pandemic, and the “Zoom-itis” which many of us adapted to in our work and personal lives, it was truly wonderful to gather together in person once again. Energy, optimism and warm reunions filled the exhibit hall.

The CONXEMAR team is to be commended for their handling of the event – it felt safe, largely due to the extensive protocols in place including strict access monitoring and temperature checks at entry points. Add to that consistent use of masks plus the hand sanitizer provided by nearly every exhibitor, and it felt like the risks of congregating were reasonably mitigated.

But almost 2 years of social distancing didn’t cause certain pre-COVID behaviors to disappear. Exchanging a hand shake along with a business card was surprisingly common. And, true to norms of cultural etiquette, you could still spot instances of greetings accompanied by a kiss on the cheek. How quickly, as we venture out from our COVID-induced separation, we revert to traditions, customs and long-learned behaviors.

All of this reminds us that at our core, we are human animals. We have evolved to prioritize and to require social interaction for our survival. Videoconferencing was a growth industry during the pandemic, and this gave us ways to work remotely, to meet remotely, to communicate and to keep in touch as we lived in our separate bubbles. But, as great as videoconferencing technology is, there is no substitute for real, face-to-face engagement. Videoconferencing doesn’t feed the soul with the richness of human connection we need to thrive.

It’s great to see that such events are possible again, if well managed. And, it’s great to see how much all the participants are able to get out of them. If this is The New Normal, it’s comfortingly familiar.

How are you incorporating older traditions and habits into your New Normal?