Rosario Paclwco packs crabmeat, a traditional 

 product for Sea Safari in Bellhaven. no,,, t, s« a r»*. 



Over time, the blue crab industry grew into 

 the state's most lucrative fishery. Then things 

 started to change. 



The shift in repartee around the crab- 

 picking tables from "down east" brogue to 

 Spanish was one sign. Local labor had gone 

 elsewhere for dependable, year-round, more 

 pleasant work. Meanwhile, catches of local blue 

 crabs dwindled, and the crab season shortened. 

 At the same time, an influx of less expensive, 

 imported crabmeat was nudging out domestic 

 market share. 



Lingering effects from a series of hurricanes 

 in 1996 and 1997 altered estuarine habitats, and 

 the crab supply declined further. 



The already struggling industry began to 

 plummet. "We had an accelerated shift from 

 domestic to imported products," Green explains. 

 "We no longer can be commodity-based because 

 we can't compete at the commodity level." 



Although the changes were swift, they did 

 not take processors by surprise, says Green. 



"They actually saw it coming, but there was 

 little they could do to counteract it," he says, 

 citing a shift in supply from Asia and Indonesia 

 to U.S. markets. 



Jimmy Johnson, who works in sales at 

 Sea Safari, bears witness to the changes in 

 crab processing in recent years. 



The sudden intrusion of a global 

 market on the eastern shore of North 

 Carolina translated into painful reality as 

 many local processors, including Johnson, 

 were unable to compete. The dream of 

 Johnson and his wife, Donna of owning her 

 family's processing plant had become a 

 reality in 1996. 



"For a couple of years, it was a pretty 

 good dream. Then it became a nightmare," 

 says Johnson. "It got to the point where you 

 could not produce crabmeat for any kind of 

 profit." 



"We had to sell the business or lose 

 everything we'd worked our whole lives 

 for," he says. Other processors also felt 

 pressure. 



Doug Cross of Pamlico Packing 

 Company in Vandemere puts it like this: 

 "Between government regulations and 

 increased competition from various imports, 

 the industry is changing. And it's not slowly 

 but surely — it's happening pretty quick." 

 Nash is helping Cross with an FRG project 

 to develop a line of seafood dips and salads with 

 a six- week refrigerated shelf life for Pamlico 

 Packing. They have 16 products now and plan to 

 select the top eight before testing preservation 

 systems devised through the FRG project 



Cross agrees that value-added products are 

 important. 



"It's another slice of the pie, I guess. But 

 the pie is getting so thin now-a-days, you better 

 have a lot of slices." 



Nash compares the old style of crab 

 processing to farming — offering a harvested 

 product to a competitive market and hoping for 

 the best. To survive, he says, "processors must 

 transition from commodity-based to market- 

 driven businesses." 



That translates into what consumers 

 demand. 



COOKING UP WHAT 

 CONSUMERS WANT 



"People want to eat seafood. There just 

 aren't enough attractive value-added items to 

 satisfy consumers' needs," says Nash. 



In particular, he says, they want food that is 



"healthful, flavorful and easy to prepare." 



And Green notes that freshness counts. 

 When consumers know the origin of crabmeat, 

 he says, they prefer to buy local as long as prices 

 are nearly equal. 



Green adds that sensory evaluations at the 

 seafood lab show consumers prefer the taste of 

 blue crab over imported species. Without side- 

 by-side comparisons, however, many consumers 

 may lack that culinary sensitivity. 



"Younger people coming in have grown 

 accustomed to imports because they have never 

 tasted the difference," Green says. 



In addition to taste, there's convenience. 



"The U.S. is geared to time-saving," says 

 Green. "Seafood lends itself to that market 

 because it's quick to prepare." Further prepara- 

 tion makes it even more convenient, he says. 



Nash says ease to consumers means either 

 "cooked ready-to-eat or heat-and-serve." 



He notes that "the value of the packaged- 

 foods market is estimated to be in the billions of 

 dollars." 



Convenience is paramount to Americans, 

 who spend $118 billion annually on fast food, 

 according to an article by New York Times food 

 columnist Jane E. Brody. That statistic should be 

 heartening to Sea Safari. 



An oven-baked seafood patty developed 

 by Harris and Nash is being eyed by a national 

 fast-food chain. Nash says that "being oven- 

 baked was what was appealing about it." The 

 chain had wanted a seafood product that was 

 baked instead of deep-fried — one that could 

 meet their expectations for quality and 

 convenience. 



Most of Sea Safari's new products are 

 frozen, bake-and-serve items that make a 

 complete meal or entree. They are being offered 

 in some grocery stores. 



The value-added line resulted from the 

 synergy of the Harris-Nash team. Nash has more 

 than 17 years of food-industry experience 

 specializing in ingredient technology and 

 product development. Harris says this and 

 Nash's industry contacts have been invaluable. 



Harris brings a background in chemistry 

 and food safety management to the mix. The 

 precision of a chemist is a good fit for food 

 product development. 



"Even when you're in your kitchen using a 

 recipe, you're using chemistry," she says. And 



18 AUTUMN 2002 



