Welcome to the Craft Revolution

Welcome to the Craft Revolution

By Steve Lawrence

While for many, price and convenience are king; for some, the appeal of the ubiquitous pales in comparison to the unique.

Across the board, more and more consumers are embracing the individual and handmade in how they dress, which household items they purchase and, most notably for the seafood industry, what they eat and drink.

Mass production and modern manufacturing mean that same-day delivery of a good-quality Swedish designed corner sofa is just a few clicks away.

For some in seafood processing, automation and mechanisation offer an obvious route forward for a labour-intensive sector.

With a recent Seafish study showing that EU workers represent the majority of the sector’s workforce (51% overall, with an even higher dependency in areas like Grampian, at 69%), and Brexit – in whatever form it takes – likely to bring challenges, it’s not hard to see why reducing recruitment needs and staff costs has great appeal. But at almost the other end of the scale, some are looking at a fundamentally different, but no less innovative, solution.

Welcome to the Craft Revolution…

Whether it’s in the rise of the artisan coffee house or the increasing prominence of craft beers in pubs across the country, it’s clear that the idea of ‘craft’ has the potential to energise business.

But how can the lessons offered by these craft success stories be applied to the UK seafood industry? The Fishmongers’ Company believes it has at least part of the answer…

Building trust

For over 700 years, The Fishmongers’ Company has upheld standards in the trading of fish and shellfish, and today its mission is to promote a healthy, prosperous and sustainable fish and fisheries sector for the long-term benefit of the UK. It sees the development of an industry-recognised Master Fishmonger Standard (MFS) as key to this goal.

Alison Freeman has been involved in the development of the MFS since starting with the company in 2017 as a programme manager.

If we want our consumers to be knowledgeable about seafood, make the best choices and understand quality, it needs to start from within.

One of the biggest challenges facing the entire seafood industry is the need to build consumer trust in fish and shellfish. Everyone, from restaurants and retailers to the person catching the fish, has a role to play in building this trust, and the MFS was designed with this in mind.

The MFS aims to recognise achievement across five tiers, with a high level of skill and knowledge about the seafood industry key to each of them.

With a qualification such as this, it’s clear that demonstrable skills will be of the utmost importance. Gary Hooper, who has worked in the industry for 25 years across a variety of jobs and is one of the main architects of the course, says:

Businesses want the best craftsperson possible and their customers want evidence that the people you have preparing seafood are qualified and the best people for the job.

Slightly more unusual with the MFS is the desire to increase knowledge of different parts of the supply chain, including aquaculture and marine fisheries. Participants are even taught about quota allocations and regulations such as the landing obligation. Alison explains,

The aim is to teach people things that aren’t needed for the daily function of their role but that can add to their confidence and job fulfilment. We want people to think outside their day jobs and consider the fish they’re handling every day.

Similar to the stereotypical hipster barista at the independent coffee shop, they want every participant to be a real expert and be able to talk about the product.

Also open to every participant is the chance to be publicised by The Fishmongers’ Company. The biggest names in craft beer are as famous for their marketing as their drinks, and whilst The Fishmongers’ Company isn’t pursuing publicity stunts per se, it does see a need for more ‘disruptive’ and less traditional marketing strategies.

It wants participants to “not just be an ambassador for the course but for the industry in general.” Along with the badges, certificates and invites to the company’s award ceremony, those who qualify will be featured on the company website and could even appear on social media as fishmonger of the day or week.

The website also features an interactive map where people can find their nearest certified fishmonger, and The Fishmongers’ Company is dedicated to sharing and promoting any media coverage participants might receive and putting them forward for opportunities such as demonstrations at seafood festivals.

Participants might not have the profile of a Great British Bake Off contestant (yet), but The Fishmongers’ Company would like to see them promoting their products in the same way that TV’s star bakers have promoted artisan bread.

Gary Hooper hopes that everyone who goes through the MFS will have the same mindset: “It’s not only about the individual – it’s about giving something back to the industry.”

The craft tier

Whilst a number of gin distilleries have successfully scaled their businesses with help from shrewdly chosen celebrity influencers, the number of followers on Instagram may not be of interest to many processing businesses. This is where the tier system of the MFS is important.

The craft tier of the standard was specifically designed for those working in seafood processing businesses, and it promotes skills particularly suited to these jobs. There is an emphasis on the practical, with customer service and retail aspects omitted entirely and the health and safety aspect tailored to a processing environment.

Most notably, the craft tier is the only one of the tiers in which the skills assessments are time sensitive, which is of course vitally important to the running of any processing business.

Terry Martin, multiple-time fishmonger of the year and master fishmonger at M&J Seafood notes:

The people who do this tier can produce yield… they have the skills that customers are after and they can see that they’ve reached a certain level.

It’s also hoped that having a specific tier targeted at seafood processing could help with staff retention in these businesses. Even taking Brexit out of the equation, many businesses have found it challenging to recruit and retain staff.

Alison hopes that the craft tier will be recognised as an important and desirable part of a clearly defined career path, and that having such a path could inspire more British workers to enter the field.

Craft for all

In the craft beer world, upstarts like BrewDog have become big businesses, and some of the larger breweries have released their own craft beers or placed more emphasis on the flavour of their traditional big sellers. Craft doesn’t necessarily mean small, and the size of a business should be no obstacle to being disruptive.

The team at the Fishmongers’ Company want the craft tier to have flexibility so that staff at seafood processing businesses of all sizes will find it useful. The tier is designed to stand alone or can supplement in-house training, and for larger firms, there is also a possibility to tailor it to specific species types. As Alison says, “The beauty of the course is that you can adapt it to the person quite easily. We cover it all from the individual up.”

Another thing ‘craft’ doesn’t have to mean is old-fashioned. Brands have been built on evocative images of bygone days, but the craft movement is more about quality and authenticity than nostalgia. In fact, the craft tier embraces the potential offered by new technology and is completely online, with all materials and assessments broken down into small manageable sections.

The MFS YouTube channel is filled with videos of current masters like Terry Martin and Gary Hooper, so participants can see what they’re aiming towards. The team particularly want to reassure those who left school a long time ago and might find the idea of doing any kind of qualification daunting:

We want to give participants the confidence to learn new things and to realise how much knowledge they already have.

The design of the craft tier considers the lifestyle of someone working at a seafood processing factory and their usual working day. Using their smartphone or tablet, staff can easily complete a unit on their lunch break, commute or at home in the evening.

This approach will also benefit businesses whose staff won’t have to travel or take days or weeks off in order to complete the training.

The Fishmongers’ Company has even been exploring the possibility of using virtual reality headsets with a couple of different colleges. This would help recruit students by giving them a taste for the job without having to leave the classroom, and it would also help reduce the costs involved for trainees as they wouldn’t need to buy fish. On top of that, it would also help reduce waste.

‘A dying art’

Even amongst the excitement of the launch of the MFS, one of my interviewees couldn’t help but refer to fishmongering as a “dying art”. Alison and her team believe the MFS can help change this perception.

Whether participants are going back to a shed on a pier or to a large multinational company, she wants them to feel motivated after taking part and supported in sharing their passion for seafood. She wants them to champion and encourage the next generation so that the industry grows and people like them become the norm. As Gary Hooper says:

To have an external body accredit something that could be of benefit to your business, why wouldn’t you want to embrace it?

And if they can achieve this, an industry filled with people with “worldclass technical skills and a holistic understanding of the seafood industry” may not be too far away.

Maybe seafood processing could become another craft success story.

Further Information

The craft tier of the Master Fishmonger Standard is set to be launched in late September. You can get further information on this and other courses on the website masterfishmonger.co.uk

The organisers of the course welcome fishmongers from all backgrounds and all parts of the country.

The Apprentice

Throughout the UK there are a number of approved fishmonger apprenticeship schemes where individuals can learn all aspects of the trade from harvesting to selling.

On schemes lasting between one to two years, fishmonger apprentices are given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge through tests and assessments and upon completion are able to apply for recognition by The Fishmongers’ Company.

The Seafood Training Academy

The Master Fishmonger Standard is just one of many training opportunities available to seafood processing businesses in the UK.

If you’re looking to reassess the training needs of your staff then a good place to start is the Seafood Training Academy website seafoodacademy.org

The Seafood Training Academy is a partnership of organisations in the UK that have a shared interest in supporting learning and development in the seafood industry. Partners range from individual organisations like Seafish to entire networks like the Scottish Seafood Training Network.

The Academy focuses on the training and learning development needs of the onshore sectors of the UK seafood industry.

Their portfolio of training programmes, qualifications and resources are intended to make cost effective and high quality fish and shellfish training available throughout the UK.

The website has a significant amount of information and free learning resources, including online study guides that anyone can access.

It is a great place to start if you want to learn more about fish and shellfish and its journey through the supply chain.

Potential applicants to the Master Fishmonger Standard will find the website especially useful with Seafish videos about the preparation of fish and shellfish along with details on courses offered by the Academy Partners.

Current partners include government departments, colleges, independent training providers, trade organisations and at least one university. If you’re interested in becoming involved with the Seafood Training Academy contact Lee Cooper on academy@seafish.co.uk.