To the Editor:
Kris Osgood’s article about “branding” seafood producs (May, 2012) raises some interesting questions about the seafood industry. The first would be if you are going to put a popular name on the “to of the trip,” whose name should we put on the bottom of the trip?
I once asked a fish dealer in Portland why he did not buy anything but “boxed at sea” fish. He answered that the market was not there. Judging from the prices at your local market, we must be getting close to that time.
The trouble with the industrial food business is that instead of demanding nothing but top quality from their producers, they put a catchy name on the “top of the trip” and jack up the price. When the public is thoroughly hooked, the logo will move to more dubious product that no one person can hope to monitor.
Sincerely,
Martin Bartlett
Searsmont, ME