Aquaculture New Zealand
Facebook
  • Conference
  • Jobs
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Industry
  • Products
  • Cuisine
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Science & Innovation
  • Education
  • Maori
  • News
  • About Us

The ORA KING Effect

June 29, 2016

The growing buzz around the  premium Ora King brand has helped the value of salmon exports to the USA double in just one year.  With the value of the industry’s chilled whole product sales into the USA rising 100% in 2015 to reach $21.7million, the  market has become the largest for NZ  salmon exports. As a result, we’re seeing one third of all salmon export earnings  coming from fresh, whole fish into the  one market.  It’s growth that the New Zealand King Salmon team attribute largely to the  success of their Ora King strategy.

“There’s a real ground swell of interest in Ora King and when you see people  loving the brand and the fish as much  as we do, and taking our message  and spreading it themselves, it’s very  exciting,”said New Zealand King Salmon  General Manager Marketing Jemma  McCowan who has been a driving  force behind ra King since its launch  in late 2012.  While the growth curve has been steep, it hasn’t happened over night.

“We decided about 10 years ago that America was a significant market opportunity for us because of its size,  their appetite for sustainable seafood  and a good appreciation for branding  and quality,” she said.  “This is evidence that staying committed and investing in a market for  the long term can pay off.”  With Ora King targeted towards  individual, high-end food service outlets,  chefs have emerged as key influencers.

“Ora King is not a direct substitution  for the Atlantic salmon that’s widely  available in the US,” she said.

“It’s about knowing the market and  targeting the right customers. We’re at  the high-end of food service so we’re  working with chefs that appreciate  ingredients and understand that King  salmon offers a different experience.

“We put people on the ground who  are qualified and know their stuff, to  go into kitchens and talk to chefs and  wholesalers and tell them our story.  “It’s really about building long-term  relationships across the supply chain.

“Now we’re seeing people getting  excited about the brand story and their  chance to get involved in a network.

“We’re getting natural pick up from  chefs who are seeing their buddies  using it, and we’re also getting our  existing chefs moving restaurants and  states and taking Ora King with them.

“When you see chefs owning your  story – it’s very exciting.”  Momentum has been building over  the past three years with the Ora King  awards, a US based sales team, social  media campaigns and the green light  from Monterey Bay all helping to build  demand for the product.

“Certainly the brand message is  getting out there,” she said.  “We’re running a social media  campaign to drive word of mouth  – it’s a cost effective way of telling  your story and the visual nature of  the industry lends itself very well  to the platform.

“We’ve also recognised that  chefs interact with each other  in social groups so we drove  campaigns around the  Ora King awards.  “We also bring  some chefs out to  New Zealand – we  select some of our  champion users to tour  our operations in the  Top of the South to get  a real impression of  what we’re doing and  meet the people working  with our wonderful salmon  throughout our integrated  supply chain.

“The Monterey Bay green light  has also had a positive contribution.  “We’ve been driving it as a team  and all the factors have combined  to drive the market.”

Smoked NZ Salmon & Roastie Frittata

Sushi dinner bowls with teriyaki NZ salmon and avocado

Art Blom

Grant's Tyee

Jim Dollimore

Sign up for our Newsletter

* indicates required

Resource Library

  • A sustainable growth story
  • Application Forms
  • Food Guides
  • General
  • Magazine
  • Maori
  • Presentations
  • Reports
  • Strategies
  • Teachers

Related Links

  • Seafood New Zealand
  • Aquaculture Unit
  • Marine Farming Association
  • Salmon Farmers Association

About Us

  • Contact Us
  • Our Organisation
  • Strategy
  • Our Board
  • Our Team
  • FAQs

Contact Us

Tel: (03) 548 8944
Email: info@aquaculture.org.nz

Website by Lucid Design | All images and content copyright ©2011 Aquaculture New Zealand. All rights reserved.