RFM Certification Drives Purchase of Wild-Caught Alaska Seafood
When it comes to seafood, it also means protecting the fish and the communities responsible for the catch — all things that are important to today’s increasingly health- and environmentally conscious consumers.
Carrying and promoting sustainable, wild-caught Alaska Seafood offers a high level of assurance that seafood-loving customers who shop your store will find products that meet those pillars of sustainability. And as data shows, it will help build baskets, too.
Why should you, as a grocery retailer, care about sustainable, wild-caught seafood?
Because your customers do!
Sixty-five percent of consumers say it is important that the fish and seafood they buy is sustainable and 5:1, they prefer wild vs farmed product.1
Certification Wields Basket-building Power
While sustainability claims can attract customers, many products that shout “sustainable” and “wild- caught” often don’t have anything to back up those labels.
Alaska Seafood does.
Not only is Alaska the only state with sustainable fishing written directly into the state constitution; seafood from Alaska also is certified by the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification program, one of the most trusted certification programs in the industry. RFM has a Chain of Custody program (that doesn’t charge any logo fees), which assures buyers that certified fish can be traced through the supply chain back to its origin. Alaska’s fisheries are also certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Certification is a key component of Alaska Seafood’s sustainability story, and can be for grocery retailers, too.
Why?
Forty-six percent of consumers overall, and 55 percent of Millennials believe seafood certification is very/extremely important when making purchasing decisions — which means proving you source from certified sustainable fisheries is more important than ever in capturing seafood customers.
Displaying seafood that carries the RFM certification eco-label is one simple way to do just that.
“RFM certification is one of the most credible and robust wild-cap- ture sustainable seafood certification programs in the marketplace, and it is one of the few certification programs that features origin on its eco-label,” explains Megan Rider, domestic program director for ASMI. “And unlike some other programs, there are no fees to pay to use the Alaska RFM certification eco-label.”
Recent data shows that the RFM logo holds sway with seafood shoppers.
“Using the RFM logo demon- strates to your customers that you are responsibly sourcing seafood,” Rider adds. “And based on this recent data, it shows it can add a significant amount to your bottom line, too.”
For more information about how Alaska Seafood can help your store write its own sustainability story, visit alaskaseafood.org or rfmcertification.org
1 Datassential 2021
2 Datassential RFM Certification Study 2022