Meeting Changing Customer Needs Through COVID-19: The Success of Direct-to-Consumer | Product

Speakers: Richard Stavis, Founder – Stavis Consulting; Ian Amin, Senior Director of Supply Chain - Home Chef; Arron Kallenberg, Founder & CEO - Wild Alaskan Company; Rob Knecht, CEO/Co-Founder - Real Oyster Cult; Stephanie Pazzaglia, Business Development Manager - J.J. McDonnell & Co

Session Description: Few if any companies could have anticipated the path that 2020 took. Multi-generational patterns of shopping and consumption were upended when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down communities both by law and by practice as we stopped visiting our favorite establishments, stopped visiting with friends and family and sheltered in place. In the USA, seafood has traditionally been consumed primarily in restaurants. The question we all asked ourselves was, will consumers find a different way to get and eat seafood? Thankfully, the answer has been a resounding yes. Session panelists describe their successes and challenges in finding, defining and serving that market. Some challenges relate to rapid scale-up of in-specification inventory and order fulfillment capacity. Others involve pivot of company focus and reinvention of product line, customer base, payment and delivery logistics. One thing that all of the “winners” of the COVID-19 crisis have in common is a skillset that includes market analysis, a willingness to adapt and rapid implementation of new tactics.