Source: Rafael Garcia.
One of the links that bring fish from producers on the beach to self-service stores such as supermarkets are intermediaries, where fish is transformed to meet the requirements demanded by self-service buyers.
Intermediaries can be agents of change to ensure the sustainability of the fish and seafood that reaches supermarkets, however, to achieve this they must overcome a series of obstacles.
To delve into these challenges, Causa Natura Media interviewed Rafael García, CEO of the company Mercuin or El Arrecife, by his trade name, dedicated since 2004 to the processing and distribution of seafood. Currently, he is also a member of the Mexican Council for the Promotion of Fishery and Aquaculture Products (Comeesca) and the Collective Impact of Mexican Fisheries and Aquaculture (Icpmx), from where he promotes the responsible consumption of fish and aquaculture products.
*This interview has been edited for synthesis and better reading.
— Why is the role of intermediaries still important in Mexico?
There are countries like Spain where there is no longer intermediation because self-service has a specialized side that seeks its products directly from the producer. In Mexico, there is still a lack of time for that because there really is no specialization of buyers.
Self-service stores have a shopping area where there is a buyer of meat, groceries and, among them, fish and seafood. But buyers aren't as experienced people as we think. On the other hand, in Spain, when they recruit buyers, the profile for that position is one of a high level of knowledge and experience.
Self-service doesn't know how to get the product, how to treat it under the right conditions and transport it to the final place, so it needs people like us to do that part.
In addition, when you buy from fishing communities, you often have to advance money to them, and self-service isn't going to do that. The cooperatives also sell us all their products, but self-service only wants products with certain characteristics, such as huachinango weighing between 500 and 700 grams, so as a marketer we buy everything, we give the selected product to self-service and we take care of selling the rest through other channels.
— How concerned do you perceive supermarkets to offer sustainable products?
At the level of hotel chains, there are already some chains that have made good progress in obtaining products directly from the producer, but this is still a fairly small share with respect to the entire total volume.
On the other hand, self-service still lacks that part of searching directly, because sometimes it doesn't depend on the buyer, but on the entire chain, from the same base as the producer.
For example, Costco is the chain that perhaps cares most about the product being sustainable and they are willing to pay even more to have the guarantee that the origin of that product is legal. The others generally don't have that concern, they really care about the business and that's it.
That's why what we do at Comeesca is to sensitize the entire chain, from the end customer to the buyer of the largest chain. Sometimes when a self-service chain leads in sustainability issues and is doing well, others start to care about sustainability or when they realize that the new consumer has other criteria when making a purchase decision and seeks products with guarantees of legality, safety and sustainability.
— What other measures could force the chain to consider sustainability criteria?
An important part of this would be the government. For example, Conapesca is in control of establishing seals and sizes, so they could force the producer to label their products with a barcode containing all the product information. If there were an obligation, things would change; as long as there isn't one, everyone is on their own. Labeling is a part that Collective Impact is pushing for.
— What obstacles do you face to guarantee the legality of the products you sell?
On the one hand, there are international purchases that are generally from large companies and that have good practice certifications.
As for the national product, the aquaculture product is where you can really have control of the sustainability part because the production companies already manage good practices, but it is still a very small volume.
With regard to the national wild product, what is generally asked of them is that it be produced with a fishing guide, but sometimes this is falsified or inventories are purchased when it is out of prohibition to trade during the ban and that is the part against which it is difficult to fight.
Little by little, things are being achieved, but there is still a lot of permissiveness in many of these types of procedures. I ask a cooperative to send me the fishing guide showing that this product was legally fished, but many times the authority doesn't review it, they simply sign a piece of paper and consider it legal.
I can also ask them for a fishing permit and other documentation, but the cooperative arrives, and it has happened to me many times, and it says: “Your competitor buys it for me, he pays me the same or less but they don't ask me for anything like that”. And then they sell it to him.
Only if they had no one else to sell to would they agree to give me all the documentation, but since this is not the case, it is more difficult for them to do so.
— What are some of the achievements you have made in reversing this problem?
At Comeesca, we have managed to bring several cooperatives into line with this type of practice. These are small actions, but little by little we have made progress. There we are making it possible to have a traceability of the product from the moment it was caught until it reached the final consumer.
At Impacto Colectivo, we have achieved the commitment between voluntary (intermediary) companies to try to ensure that all the products we bring have traceability and, in turn, from the same suppliers that we have, to also require certain documentation from them at the time of purchase. “You want to sell me but in order for you to sell me you have to comply with these rules.”
— How sensitized and aware are marketers about their role in promoting sustainable fishing?
It's still something that's barely permeating. It's a long-term struggle. It's not easy because we're a little lonely. To push it, a lot of funding is required to campaign and raise awareness, but since we manage ourselves by donations or fees from our own partners, we go as far as we can. Of course, much more can be done, but there is no lack of will, we need a little more capital.
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