GLOUCESTER, Mass. -- Five Massachusetts supermarket chains are participating in a three-month statewide promotion for "undiscovered" local fish -- this year's species are red hake and whiting -- sponsored by the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association here and the Massachusetts Governor's Seafood Task Force, Boston.
Hake and whiting are generally in season from the summer into December and the promotion's in-store demos and sampling programs are slated to run at supermarkets through the end of September.
"Stop & Shop is happy to do our part and promote whiting and therefore support Massachusetts fishermen who have represented the very essence of coastal New England life for generations," said Ken Pentheny, seafood sales manager at Stop & Shop Cos., Quincy, Mass.
Bill Clarke, the seafood manager at the Lowell, Mass., Shop 'n Save, operated by Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, said his hake and whiting sales have been up 15% since the promotion began.
"These are two abundant species that people don't know much about," said Angela Sanfilippo, the president of the GFWA, which promotes the port of Gloucester and the New England fishing industry.
Sanfilippo called hake and whiting underrated, good quality fish and explained that "we are always trying to push less popular species, increase awareness that these are food fish and help fishermen get a better price [for their catch]."
"This is a haddock and cod area," explained Shop 'n Save's Clarke. "It's what their parents are familiar with and it's hard to get [customers] to try new things."
Ken Coons, executive director of the New England Fisheries Development Association, Boston said, "The Making a Splash campaign promotes value for the consumer and new market opportunities for our valued local fishing industry. The private sector response to this initiative has been tremendous and we commend the Massachusetts supermarket companies for their enthusiastic support of the effort."
Stop & Shop, Crosby's, Bread & Circus, Star Market and Hannaford Bros., each chose four participating locations for the promotion, according to a Splash campaign spokeswoman, and several of the stores have done multiple demos.
Shop & Shop's Pentheny said he chose locations with the "ethnic diversity to reach a broad range of consumers."
Participating chains are advertising the promotion and demos through circulars, newsletters and in-store signage, according to the Splash spokeswoman.
A publicity campaign to educate consumers about hake and whiting has been under way as part of the promotion, she noted, and recipe cards are being distributed at participating supermarket seafood counters.
"We have a tablecloth, big oven and a frying pan. People come because they smell the flavor of the fish," said the GFWA's Sanfilippo about when she goes into retail operations to demo hake and whiting.
She said the GFWA also runs educational programs to teach staff about seafood freshness and quality. "We have information that any supermarket can benefit from on how to keep [seafood] safe and fresh."
"It's ongoing. They come and bring in product, cookbooks and do a demo," explained Shop 'n Save's Clarke. "We keep it going after with recipe cards and point-of-sale materials."
Stop & Shop's Pentheny called his chain's participation in the promotion more than just supporting a good cause. "Whiting is delicious and nutritious, and it presents an excellent value for our customers."
The GFWA's Sanfilippo said hake and whiting sales also present a good financial opportunity for retailers. "In this product they can work in dollars, while with most other products they [only] work in cents."
She explained that the GFWA provided retail operations with a finished product, which they were then free to price themselves.
"Our customers appreciate the lower cost and excellent taste of hake," said Stephanie Stathe, northeast seafood coordinator for Newton Highlands, Mass.-based Bread & Circus, which is a division of Whole Foods, Austin, Texas.
"As long as I keep getting hake and whiting, I'll keep it going," said Shop 'n Save's Clarke, who noted that the species were often hard to keep in stock.
The campaign, only in its second year, was slated to wrap up at the end of September, according to the Splash spokeswoman. Currently no plans are in place to continue it in 1998, due to lack of funding, she said.
This year's promotion was greatly scaled down from last year when, according to the spokeswoman, five different species were promoted. Demonstrations was also cut substantially this year, dropping from about 35 to 20.
Last year's campaign was estimated to have reached one million consumers, 210,000 of whom received recipe cards and 6,000 of whom sampled herring -- one of the five promoted species -- at in-store demonstrations.
