AQUACULTURE MARKETINGChapter 11 [objectives]

• Explain the meaning and importance of aquaculture marketing

• Explain marketing channels used in aquaculture

MARKETING AQUACROPS

• Marketing includes all the steps needed to get a desired product to consumers

• Aquafarmers are commercial producers that raise fish and other aquacrops for the money they can get when the crops are sold

MARKETING FUNCTIONS

• Marketing is far more than selling an aquacrop

• Marketing functions are the steps or processes that a product passes through before it reaches the consumer

PLANNING PRODUCTION

• Determine the aquacrop that will have the highest demand

• There are no live red swamp crawfish available from July to December

• Redclaw crawfish can be available from July to December

PRODUCING A QUALITY PRODUCT

• Consumers want good quality products

• They want products that have correct flavor, free of hazardous substances, and provide good nutrition

• Product must be attractive and appeal to consumers

SAMPLING THE AQUACROP

• Sampling is selecting a small, representative part of an aquacrop to determine if it is up to standard

ASSEMBLING AND GRADING

• Buyers want products that are uniform in size

TRANSPORTING

• Fish must be hauled alive in water to the processing plant

• Crawfish may be hauled alive in sacks out of water

ADVERTISING

• Advertising is calling the attention of possible consumers to a product and encouraging them to buy it

PROCESSING

• Processing is preparing the aquacrop into a convenient form for the consumer

SELLING

• Selling is changing the ownership of an aquacrop from the producer to a processor, seafood shop, restaurant, or other customer

STORING

• Aquacrops must often be kept for a time before their use (usually frozen)

DEVELOPING PRODUCTS

• To enhance demand, food processors often develop new forms of products to appeal to customers

MARKETING CHANNELS

• Marketing through processing plants

MARKETING CHANNELS

• Local retail markets (roadside stores, restaurants, etc.)

MARKETING CHANNELS

• Internet-based business to business

MARKETING CHANNELS

• Some producers develop niche markets with restaurants