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Building Customer Confidence in Your Seafood Department
with Honest Answers
by
Michael F. Bavota copyright 2000
Seafood shoppers always have questions. This is how they learn about seafood
and develop more confidence in cooking it in their homes. The question for you is: “Do your associates at the seafood
counter have the correct answers?” There are some very real, common misperceptions concerning seafood today and all
your customers want to know is just the honest truth. Here are five of the most frequently asked questions at the seafood
counter. And of course… the correct, honest answers that all of your seafood staff need to know.
#1.
“mahi-mahi, isn’t that really a dolphin, you know, like Flipper?”
Answer: Mahi-mahi
is a dolphin, true. However, there are two species of animals which go by the name of dolphin. One is the mammal, like Flipper,
such as the bottle-nose dolphin. The other is a fish, which is the only one that we eat and is called mahi-mahi. The name
Mahimahi is actually Hawaiian for this dolphin.
#2. “I hear that eating shellfish, like oysters can
be dangerous, what about crabs, lobster and shrimp?”
Answer: This is a
two part answer. First: when we speak of shellfish, there are actually two distinctive family groups in the shellfish category:
mollusks and crustaceans.
Mollusks, also known as the bi-valves (oysters, clams, mussels) have two shells opened
and closed by a single hinge. They are consumed raw or cooked.
Crustaceans are animals with a shell covering (crabs,
lobsters, shrimp). These
animals are rarely eaten raw.
Part two: bi-valves (oysters, clams, mussels) filter
water into their intestines to gather food. Thus, should there be a marine bio-toxin, or human introduced contamination in
the water where these animals live, there becomes a risk, a potential for a health risk when these animals are consumed raw.
Caution should be taken, and customers with liver or other immune deficiencies need to consult their doctor before eating
any food raw. However, once cooked, and then eaten, the health risk associated with bi-valves becomes quit low. Since crabs,
lobster and shrimp are not filter feeders, and are mostly consumed cooked, there is little risk concerns when eating these
animals.
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#3. Atlantic
Salmon from Chile and British Columbia?
There are many types of salmon. It is easier for the consumer
to understand the differences by dividing salmon into two groups: farm raised and wild. The wild salmon which is more commonly
known as Alaskan comes to market usually during the summer months of July and August. During all the other months in most
markets of the world, the farm raised Atlantic salmon is the predominate species. But how does a Atlantic salmon come from
Chile, British Columbia, Scotland, and Norway?
Answer: the Atlantic salmon is a species
name, not the ocean where the animal lives. Thus, the Atlantic salmon, since it is farm raised can be grown in places throughout
the world. The benefit for the consumer is excellent quality and affordable salmon 52 weeks a year.
#4
Someone told me that those scallops are really shark, or skate wings?
Answer: The simple
fact is that most consumers who eat scallops like the taste, yet beyond that, don’t know much about this animal. How
and where the stories got started that scallops are punched out of shark or skate wings is a good question in and of itself.
However, anyone who has ever tried to “punch” a round circle out of shark or skate would be first to tell you,
“IT AIN’T SO EASY.” Not to mention that in this day and age it would be too labor intensive and unprofitable
considering that both shark and skate retail at good prices as they are.
There is a way that your customers can be 100%
sure that the scallops you are selling are indeed scallops. Since the scallop is a bi-valve, it has two shells which are opened
and closed by a hinge. The only part of the scallop consumed in the United States is the muscle, which should not be confused
with the mussel, which is a completely different animal. The scallop muscle, also known as “the eye,” opens and
closes the shell. When the muscle is cut out of the scallop, part of the elastic like strap which holds it to the shell usually
stays attached to the round muscle meat. You can show your customers that your scallops are real simply by showing them some
with the hinge straps and explaining why the straps are there. Of course not every scallop in a batch will have a strap. It
depends on the skill of the person shucking them, and some straps simply fall off during processing. (See Photo)
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#5 How
long do I need to cook it ?
There are customers in your store who love eating seafood, yet they seldom
make a seafood purchase at your counter. Perhaps eating seafood out of the home seems to be more enjoyable and with less of
a bother for them. Still many others would love to prepare seafood in the home for their families, but the problem is that
they have a difficult time cooking it successfully. The main cause of failure is over-cooking the first few times they attempt
to prepare seafood. So the big question they have is “how long should I cook seafood?”
Answer:
There is an easy answer that is nearly fool proof for any cooking method for fish and seafood. It is called
the Canadian Cooking Method. Tell your customers to cook all of their seafood just 10 minutes per inch of thickness. A ¾
inch cut of sword fish on the grill requires just 7 minutes (3 ½ on each side) of cooking time.
Cooking Tips:
Seafood needs to be cooked in measurements of minutes. Which means for fish until the meat turns white, or loses its opaque
center. Cut into the meat with a fork to check it. Plan to use less time than recommended when first learning how to cook
fish. You can always cook it longer if needed.
For shellfish, like shrimp, crab and lobster there is built in timer.
The shell turns red, or the meat turns snowy white. Boiled shrimp in the shell or peeled takes just 2 ½ to 3 minutes
in boiling water.
Be sure to have plenty of recipes and seafood condiments near your counter. This way customers who
are thinking of trying to cook seafood in the home will find the information they need to do it right. And when servicing
a customer it is a good idea to always ask, “ how are you going to cook that?” You would be surprised how many
will tell you that they really aren’t sure. This is your big chance to build customer confidence by helping them to
feel more comfortable with seafood in the home.
Remember, nothing beats the truth when it comes to creating repeat sales.
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