Can E-tail Ever Really Wag the Fish Business?

Time was when the International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS) was just as much about the introduction of new fishery products as it was about wheeling and dealing in hotel suites, restaurants and bars. The air was always thick with the aroma of deep-fried shrimp, scallops and fish fillets. The buzz in the aisles was generally about something you could sink your teeth into.

New offerings of the edible kind almost seemed to be a sideshow during the 2000 IBSS in March. The spotlight was on products sans scales and tails. The star attractions were not fish from the sea, but rather electronic platforms of "e-fish-ency." Center stage was occupied by entrepreneurs of e-sales and experts of e-tail. The era of emerging technologies permeated.

If the Energizer Bunny keeps going and going and going, the high tide of dot-corns kept coming and coming and coming into the crowded aisles of the Hynes Convention Center. From Fishmonger.com and Mylobster.com to GlobalFoodExchange.com to gofresh.com and gofrozen.com, at least seven start-up e-commerce outfits joined an established few such as gofish.com in trying to convince skeptical old salts that they can "internet" more profits by clicking through cyberspace, where an infinitely deep pool of buying and selling opportunities await.

The computer was invented half a century ago. Then a few years back Al Gore went ahead and "invented the Internet." Believe that and you might also believe that the information superhighway -- which at times can be as frustratingly slow-moving as the New Jersey Turnpike during Monday morning crush hour -- will move oceans of fish and seafood for you. Better not fire your sales force just yet. The buyers I know still want to look their suppliers in the eye, and most want to "smell the merchandise."

Joel Kolen, chairman of the National Fisheries Institute in the US, made this point during a recent interview with QFFI: "We may see a dramatic change in the way that seafood is marketed and purchased, however, someone still has to bring the product into the country and handle the logistics of delivery, etc. The Internet will simply enhance their marketing mix. Seafood is a premium food product and should be seen, touched, smelled and tasted by the discriminating buyer; the Internet doesn't lend itself to a quality-based purchasing decision ... "

What are other veteran seafood industry types saying about the emerging technologies which promise to reshape the way their business is transacted? Here are a few observations heard during the Boston show:

"I equate it with the advent of the fax machine back in the 1980s," said Ruth Levy, director of marketing for Stavis Seafoods Inc. "Where I used to have a pile of faxes on my desk, now I have a pile of e-mails. I see immediate, severe market destabilization."

Frank Mercker, president of Seattle-headquartred Arrowac Fisheries and Merco Intertrade, commented: "E-commerce may destabilize markets for the time being, but ultimately it will help those sectors of the industry, like processors, that truly add value to product. Whether it will help brokers, I doubt it very much."

A Texas-based retailer, Richard Catanzaro, the seafood marketing and procurement man for HEB Foods, had this to say: "I pull up two sites every morning ... But it's relationships that give us fish during tight times. Loyalty is very important. I don't know if the time is right for dot-coms. There needs to be a shakeout."

Maybe that shakeout began on April 14, when the technology selloff on Wall Street sent global shudders through the so-called New Economy. A number of leading dotcoms -- many of which have yet to make their first dollar in profits -- lost as much as half of their value in less than a month. So it appears that the Darwinian process has begun. Only the fittest, with the most fitting value-added services to offer, are likely to survive. In the meantime, you better continue selling the old-fashioned way. Keep knocking on doors, pressing the flesh, wining and dining. The Internet is a sharp tool, especially if in the right hands. It can even be an order taker. But silicon and fiber-optics have limitations. The order makers will forever be relatively inefficient, irreplaceable, carbon-based units.

Three Bright Lights Will Be Dearly Missed

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of three esteemed friends and colleagues. Each made unique marks in the frozen food industry. Joan Schatzberg, a longtime Paris-based correspondent and French translator for this magazine, died suddenly in her office last month -- apparently from a heart condition. Her last story, completed just a few days before dying, will be published in the next issue. Anybody who met Peter Brouwer, managing director of Montfoort, Holland-based Kiremko by, had to be impressed with the man's strong will and can-do attitude about business and life. I last saw him in December, when the food processing equipment specialist proudly demonstrated his company's new Visionair optical sorting system. Robust and energetic, he looked to be the picture of health. Then, on March 5, he died at the age of 54. A remembrance card issued by his family said it all: "Peter never ran away from trouble. Despite his fighting spirit and energy, he lost this battle. We will miss him badly." Sidney It. Cohen died on March 21 at the age of 72. The cause was complications from viral encephalitis apparently contracted during a business trip to Siberia An expert par excellence on international seafood trade, Sid built a number of successful fishing companies and processing plants, and was admired for malting astute investments in the seafood industry. He was a past president and chairman of the National Fisheries Institute in the United States. In honor of his service, NFI plans to create a Sidney H. Cohen Scholarship Fund.