Seafood Scotland encourages businesses to \’look local\’

Seafood Scotland has this week launched a campaign to help Scottish seafood businesses attract more customers through the use of free marketing directories to reach a greater consumer audience.

With huge swathes of the seafood export market closed off due to the Covid-19 crisis, the seafood industry has been quick to innovate, establishing markets closer to home that maximise the appetite for local produce. From developing a consumer offering for the first time, developing home delivery options and click and collect services, to the growth of quayside selling, businesses often find it challenging to let consumers know they are there.

The Net Income campaign will target fishing and seafood processing businesses via direct email and social marketing throughout July and August to encourage them to add details of their retail offer to a number of direct selling directories which provide consumers with information about where they can buy food online, locally and at the quayside. And, to help businesses streamline the process , Seafood Scotland has worked with the sites to create a one-step application process which will result in listings across the Scotland Food and Drink ‘Support Local’ hub, Seafish’s ‘Fish is the Dish’ and ‘Fish on Friday’.

Over 400 business have already listed on Scotland Food and Drink’s Support Local Hub and have benefitted from an increased number of clicks to their websites. A short Facebook advertising campaign reached over 118,000 people and directly resulted in 6,500 website visits to Scottish food and drink businesses.

Lucy Husband, Market Development & Business Engagement Director at Scotland Food & Drink, said:

\’The impact of COVID-19 restrictions changed the way we shop and forced many food and drink businesses to significantly adapt their approaches.

\’While more and more of us are shopping for food and drink online, the appetite for high-quality, local products remains strong. In fact, our research shows that 70% of Scottish consumers believe it is important to have locally sourced produce available, and 49% of Scottish shoppers also claim they would be willing to pay more for Scottish produce.

\’We’re proud to have launched supportlocal.scot to meet that demand and provide a useful platform for businesses to reach new consumers. In this incredibly difficult time for so many people, food and drink producers have shown resilience in their ability to innovate and adapt.\’

Clare Dean, Trade Marketing Manager at Seafood Scotland, said:

\’For seafood businesses that are not used to selling direct to the consumer locally, or online, the range of opportunities to market to a new audience can be hard to pin down. By using our quick and easy one-stop portal, which is completely free, seafood businesses can share their offering via listings on multiple marketing directories, reaching more consumers and growing sales.

\’We want to help the seafood sector make the most of what’s out there. All businesses need to do is ‘Click and Complete’ on our portal, and we do the rest. Within days, potential customers will be able to search and view their retail offering via online hubs.

\’Bringing companies together with selling opportunities is what Seafood Scotland is all about – whether that be locally or globally. As consumers are looking to buy local or online right now, we want to ensure that companies are set up to reach them – not just for the short term but also in the post-Covid-19 market, which has the potential to stay strong in Scotland.\’

Seafood businesses can access the ‘Click and Complete’ sign up at www.seafoodscotland.org/scotland-local