May We Suggest…
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May 3rd, 2011
The following blog is a guest contribution from Roz Cummins, Blue Ocean Institute’s Seafood Program Coordinator.
Leah Biery, a M.Sc. student working with the Sea Around Us Project, was interested in how consumers made decisions about what seafood to order and if their choices could be influenced.
While working at a tourist beach destination – Sanibel Island – Biery said, “I frequently overheard people announce that they were going out for grouper (or oyster or snapper…), apparently already certain of what they would order before even sitting down at a table.”
Biery knew that tourists staying at or near beaches often want to eat seafood while they are there. She decided to conduct a survey to figure out what proportion of diners headed to the restaurant with ordering a specific dish already in mind, and how many knew that they were planning on ordering seafood.
According to the survey results, 52% of the tourists “usually or always order seafood” while visiting Sanibel Island, and an additional 33% sometimes order seafood. As Biery points out, “This indicates that the local demand for seafood is high, so even a small increase in the proportion of people who make sustainable choices could contribute to the recovery of popular, rapidly declining species like grouper and queen conch…”
Biery’s research showed that 43% of tourists surveyed “rarely or never knew which seafood they were going to order before dining at a restaurant…” meaning that an opportunity exists for these customers’ choices to be influenced by recommendations from the wait staff, including information about any specials that are being offered.
When questioned about the potential influence of suggestions offered by the wait staff, 45% of tourists said that they are sometimes or usually influenced by server suggestions, and 45.5% said that they were sometimes or always influenced by the seafood specials available. An additional 14% were usually or always influenced by the seafood specials. (To see the results of Biery’s survey,
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011.
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<p>Biery noted that while eating seafood during a beach vacation is important to many tourists, the type of seafood mattered less. She points out that this means that “servers’ suggestions and daily specials could potentially be used as effective tools for influencing diners to make sustainable choices.”</p>
<p>She goes on to explain that, “As a means of boosting sustainable seafood sales and reducing the demand for red list species, sustainability initiatives could educate local restaurant management about sustainable seafood and encourage them to advertise only sustainable options as daily specials. Additionally, servers could be trained to routinely suggestion sustainable options to customers.”</p>
<p>Biery cautions that most people on vacation do not want to be making decisions about sustainability while they are trying to relax. Therefore, when describing sustainable specials or choices to customers, staff should first describe the dish they way they would any other – talking about how delicious and appealing it is – and only then mention sustainability as “an additional perk.”</p>
<p>Biery’s research reflects the great power that restaurants have to help reduce overfishing, particularly in beach towns where tourists are eager to eat seafood as part of a satisfying vacation experience. Wait staff education and training and daily specials chosen for their sustainability have the potential to make a big difference.</p>
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