Chain's reaction

Change at Rhee Bros. is a constant, be it new products, new promotions, new marketing strategies aimed at luring new customers. As the consumer becomes "smarter and smarter," the food business has to keep up, Ahn says. If not, "they [food businesses] don't know how to survive."

We forget that the United States is still a melting pot of nationalities. I'm not a demographer, but I think I heard that folks with a Latin heritage will outnumber those with a European heritage before long. And our neighbors of Asian extraction now number over 11 million strong. Enough to have Asian sections in the grocery stores too.

This guy that started Rhee Bros. was positioned to take advantage of a demographic shift mostly by accident. Is the seafood industry in Alaska looking ahead at these shifts with products ready and waiting? I never thought I'd get excited about the prospects for the Alaska seafood industry, but I'm getting there fast. Part of the reason is the way we can gather information about conditions in the market-place now.

So the question is: Why target rich white folks, who are dying off fast? The Asians in this country have money, being as they are so upwardly mobile. They will pool their money to send one to law school or medical school, where a lot of other minorities will pool their money to buy a motel, mom and pop grocery, or a restaurant. Now that's not a good analysis, buy you gotta think about these things to sell seafood in the future.

You gotta give 'em what they already want, not try to educate them to want what you got.