Economic Gardening Sets Table For Seafood Growth

For eight generations, the Voisin family has fished the bounty of Louisiana waters, supplying Gold Band Oysters to customers across the world through their business, Motivatit Seafoods.

Seeking sharper marketing efforts in 2012, Motivatit utilized LED’s Economic Gardening Initiative, which supports entrepreneurial growth by providing established companies with research about new markets and growth strategies.

“We were in the midst of overhauling our marketing efforts and trying to better pinpoint our targets,” explained Greg Voisin, Motivatit Seafoods vice president of marketing and sales. “The info I received was extremely targeted. Now, I can go into markets like Houston or New York and have zip codes that rank highest for oyster sales, along with the top restaurants and even the names of chefs most likely to put our oysters on their menus.”

The Economic Gardening Initiative also opened doors to a new market for Motivatit: China. “Research uncovered that the Chinese look for foods providing health benefits, so we ran website banner ads touting the benefits of oysters prior to the Asian Seafood Expo,” Voisin said. “We got over 1,800 hits in one day and we now have an entrée into this market.”

Voisin said annual sales are up and Motivatit Seafoods is commu­nicating better with its target audience. “The boost we got from Economic Gardening was amazing; and without the help of LED, I would never have been able to afford this kind of investment, or dedicate the time for all of this research.”