The Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC) has developed a new Seafood Consumer Preference Tool that seafood businesses can use at no cost to learn more about how various traceability-related factors affect consumer preference for different types of seafood.

Right now the tool is limited to three commercial species (Shrimp/Prawns, Tuna, and Salmon) and five markets (USA, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, and China), but it could be expanded to include more products and markets in the future.

How it works:

The simple spreadsheet interface allows users to select the appropriate fields for their products: packaging (“fresh/frozen” or “canned”), production method (“farmed” or “wild”), critical dates verification (e.g. best before date), sustainability verification (e.g. certification status), and price information.

After the information for up to four products is entered, the tool uses information collected with GFTC consumer surveys to produces tables and figures that plot the expected consumer preferences among those products. The relative importance to consumers of each product attribute (e.g. price, sustainability) is plotted, allowing users to see which factors influence customer choice the most.

Much like the GFTC’s Seafood Traceability Financial Tool these consumer preference data can provides businesses with tailored information about the potential payoffs of improved traceability.