Kingfisher hunts out fish amid global shortages

Winner: Kingfisher Foods

As a key supplier of tinned fish to British supermarkets, Kingfisher faced an unprecedented supply shortage across many of its core products. The harvest of wild Alaskan salmon, for example, halved due to changing migration patterns. The global sardine catch fell 60% due to changes in sea temperatures. And Maldivian ‘pole and line’ tuna dropped 65% due to overfishing.

Even Kingfisher’s more peripheral lines came under pressure. Coconut milk, for example, hit record price highs due to a white fly infestation, the Sri Lankan government’s ban on importing fertiliser, and increased demand.

Yet letting clients down was not an option, particularly for retailers such as Aldi and Lidl which don’t sell any alternatives.

And it also needed to maintain its sustainability position. So Kingfisher hired a dedicated, full-time corporate social responsibility team, ensuring that new supplier agreements and processes did not undermine any responsible sourcing commitments.

To address the supply shortages the senior team flew out to key suppliers to express the urgency and importance of uninterrupted stock supply, and 

it also began working directly with fish brokers to source and acquire raw materials. On several occasions, it even used fast-tracked goods by air-freight despite the extra cost.

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The strategy Kingfisher took often differed for each supply chain. For example, with wild Atlantic salmon, it managed to secure access to forecasts for poor catching ahead of its competitors, allowing it to secure about 75% of the containers for the 2023 season before it was sold elsewhere.

For sardines, it made the financial decision to authorise suppliers to pay more for the fish with the understanding that Kingfisher would absorb the additional cost. On Maldivian pole & line tuna, meanwhile it introduced an additional supplier within a very short timeframe, giving the business two reliable suppliers for the UK market.

These measures gave Kingfisher a score of 98.5% product availability last year, allowing its retailers to maintain or grow market share when gaps emerged in other nearby stores.

As a result, Kingfisher has come out of the crisis swimmingly, delivering its most successful year on record while developing deeper ties with many UK supermarket chains and even launching new product lines.

Shortlisted:

• Beechdean
• DCS Group
• Kingfisher Foods
• LJ Fairburn and Son
• Noble Foods
• Ornua Foods UK