Supply Chain Collaboration Brings NC-Branded Shrimp To The Table
This past holiday season, shoppers were in for a special treat when they found frozen North Carolina shrimp at area Weaver Street Market (WSM) stores, just in time for end-of-year celebrations. The shrimp – the result of a local supply chain collaboration between Weaver Street Market, Mr. Big Seafood, and Seal the Seasons – features NC Catch’s new label designating it as locally-caught product.
NC Growing Together supported the development of the NC Catch freezer labels and two NC Catch “retail market guides” – brochures that help consumers find fresh North Carolina seafood markets across the state. The brochures have been particularly popular in coastal visitors’ centers and at the NC State Fair.
“We didn’t start out as a branding organization,” says NC Catch’s Executive Director Ann Simpson. The non-profit, which was founded in 2011 mainly to promote consumer education about the benefits of buying North Carolina’s locally caught seafood, has dramatically increased its branding efforts for North Carolina-caught fish and seafood with NCGT support. “NCGT’s support has been invaluable to NC Catch. We would have been much slower to look at the marketing and branding piece without NCGT’s help.”
