Earning Trust in Sustainable U.S. Aquaculture

The Challenge

While many Americans crave fish and seafood, around 80% is imported into the U.S. Expanding production in the U.S. is important to ensure a healthy, locally produced protein. It’s also important to the nation’s soybean farmers, as U.S. Soy is a sustainable, healthy ingredient in fish feed.

There is some public skepticism around farm-raised fish and seafood, and residents have questions about existing and proposed aquaculture farms. They are often curious about sustainability, impacts on water quality and quantity, and the safety and healthfulness of farm-raised fish and seafood. Layer in the potential for myths to spread, and it’s clear that U.S. aquaculture faces a trust deficit.

Our Approach

We implemented a multi-pronged, trust-building strategy to equip fish farmers and aquaculture professionals with engaging content, resources and skills to effectively engage key stakeholders and reach targeted consumers with the positive story of sustainable U.S. aquaculture.

The consumer-facing campaign called “Hooked on Sustainable U.S. Aquaculture: A Deep Dive at Four ‘Fintastic’ Farms” showcased videos and influencer content from four diverse farms with Courtney Paige, A Paige of Positivity, and Cathy Trochelman, Lemon Tree Dwelling. We enlisted experts in veterinary science, food safety, economics, animal health and more to create four blogs with answers to the most common questions about farm-raised fish.

The videos and blogs are featured on BestFoodFacts.org, a popular consumer site, and were promoted via a paid social media campaign. Courtney and Cathy also produced their own social content – fish and seafood recipes and “aha” moments on aquaculture – which was amplified to their audiences.

As part of the strategy, our team also:

Conducted Engage shared values training for finfish and shellfish farmers to learn and practice proven approaches to earning public trust
Created and distributed a digital guide with a step-by-step plan to implement Community Advisory Panels – a well-defined process for building local relationships, addressing community concerns, proactively sharing information, and creating alignment between aquaculture operations and community expectations
Spoke at aquaculture events and secured media placements to encourage aquaculture professionals and farmers to build trust through shared values

The Results

The strategies resulted in a broad consumer audience being served fun, informative content, and key aquaculture audiences were equipped with resources and skills to lead with values as they engage with the public and key stakeholders.

The “Hooked on Sustainable U.S. Aquaculture: A Deep Dive at Four ‘Fintastic’ Farms” series is housed on a landing page with four feature videos, individual farm stories, and social media segments – all highlighting the influencers’ experiences.

Courtney and Cathy created a total of 13 pieces of content to reach their audiences through Instagram, Pinterest and their websites – content that lives on to be viewed for years to come. Through the Best Food Facts paid social promotion, the 2.3 million impressions achieved was more than double our goal. Additionally, the influencers generated nearly 70,000 organic impressions.

The story, “Building consumer trust: The feed industry’s role in promoting aquaculture” was featured in the high-profile industry publication, Aquafeed. Our team reached farmers and industry professionals at the Aquaculture American conference, during webinars with Soy Aquaculture Alliance and National Aquaculture Association, and through Engage training with Maine Aquaculture Association.

“We recognize the importance of building trust in U.S. aquaculture – not only for the future of sustainably raised fish and seafood, but also for U.S. soybean farmers, like myself, who support aquaculture through high-quality feed ingredients. Look East, in partnership with The Center for Food Integrity, brought a strategic, trust-earning approach to this effort that combined deep industry knowledge with engaging consumer storytelling. The campaign delivered measurable results. CFI actually doubled their campaign goal, reaching over 2.3 million impressions on social media. A great success and engagement!” Mary Stewart, USB Director, Maryland