The golden rule to treat others as you wish to be treated has a slightly different twist in the seafood world. Instead, it’s to treat others how you’d treat your mother.
One of the questions you need to ask yourself when handling a product is, “Would you sell it to your mom?” Chuck Anderson, director of retail & new business at Sousa Seafood, said at the “How to Sell Seafood During the Great Recession” panel today, after emphasizing the importance for retailers to offer quality product.
“If you have fish in that seafood case, and you wouldn’t sell it to your mom, pull it out — throw it away. Take the shrink, put the new fish out and start over,” he said.
While Anderson is on the supply side now, he comes from retail, having worked in seafood at Stop & Shop and H-E-B. Quality needs to come first, he said, even for customers with lower budgets. “Just because they can’t afford to spend $10 a pound doesn’t mean they don’t want great quality.”
In the Q&A session following the panel, someone stood up and commented “Would I sell it to my mother-in-law, actually.” The audience laughed when Anderson quickly corrected him, “No, I didn’t ask if you would sell it to your mother-in-law.”