Young's rising to challenges, boss tells SA forum

YOUNG’S Seafood has embarked on a journey of virtual integration to meet the challenges and customer demands of the future, Pete Ward, its chief executive, said in South Africa today.
Speaking at the 2015 Groundfish Forum conference, he told his audience that Young’s is a multi-channel, multi-customer, multi-temperature and multi-category company, offering a wide range of fish and seafood products.
He then went on to highlight changes in the UK economy and the grocery market and gave an update on protein consumption trends and UK seafood.
He also detailed the new retailer, channel and consumer dynamics, highlighting the growth of the discounters, convenience, high street stores, online and click-and-collect.
The forum aims to increase understanding among participants about global supply, consumption trends and developments for groundfish products.
While population forecasts predict growth, Ward argued that consumers are ever more conscious of their health and portion sizes and are careful to limit food waste.
He also touched on the trend for consumers to shop in both premium stores and at the discounters, in their search for the value, quality and selection. This, Ward set out, along with over-capacity in retail and manufacturing, will result in an ‘industry reset’ throughout the entire supply chain.
Outlining how Young’s Seafood is responding to these dynamics, he said: ‘Innovation, inspiration, health and convenience are all elements of the product proposition that can increase value in the eyes of the consumer
‘At Young’s we are embarking on a journey of virtual integration with our best suppliers, working as partners, driving improvements for mutual and sustainable benefits.
‘These benefits can then be invested in our customer and consumer propositions to ensure we are competitively priced as well as offering great value.
‘For this to work successfully we have to have alignment, trust and shared principles. Young’s can be the route to market for suppliers.
‘Change is inevitable, but we must ensure we are doing the right thing, always.  We will continue to behave as we have done for the past 210 years to ensure that Young’s continues to champion seafood as the best tasting, most diverse and healthiest protein available.
‘We believe that strong businesses with the right principles, which recognise the changes taking place and evolve accordingly, will continue to outperform their competitors. At Young’s our mission remains the same:
‘To inspire consumers to eat more seafood in their diet with our innovative range of high quality, good value, great tasting, responsibly sourced products.’
Young’s has relaunched its brand this year across chilled and frozen, and a new TV and multi-channel advertising campaign.