El2-Grower & Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003 Fish Farmer Exlores Marketing Methods (Continued from Page El) farm, First on his agenda was to diversify sales. “I was looking for year-round cash flow,” he said. Scott quickly saw that he had to learn to debone fish to compete with the supplies from Idaho. He learned to debone he was able to do 100 fish an hour so he could have an edge on the market over the western fish, since the fish he could supply to East Coast markets were two days fresher. The business grew, and “I realized I couldn’t grow enough fish to meet de mand,” he said. “I decided to buy fish to supplement my supply to restaurants.” In 1982 he began calling other hatcheries for his trout supply. “I got great deals in summer,” he said. The mar- Here Scott shows fingerling Brown Trout. This is an empty hatching jar, which gets a steady supply of fresh water from the pipeline* ket swung seasonally and dropped after stream stocking demand was over. “I knew restaurants could give me year-round cash flow, so I could do year-round produc tion and sales,” he said. This line of reasoning led Scott and, by now, several employees to butcher 1,200 pounds of fish per week and purchase fish from hatcheries in western Pennsylvania and Virginia. Scott re-invested back into the business and bought a re frigerated truck. By now, there was a marked change in Scott’s op eration from producer to pro cessor and marketer. “My own supply became a backup to imported supply” he said, as he delivered fish to Phila delphia and surrounding areas. A question from a restau rant chef who asked if Scott sold anything else sparked his idea to diversify even further into niche markets. He formed a working partnership with a nearby farmer who raised pheasants, rounded up a supply of quail eggs, ducks, and even began to cut water cress from his own ponds, which he sold to restaurants. He also began experimenting with free-range chickens and the sale of eggs. In addition, “I went to trade shows to look for prod ucts as I shifted my focus from what to grow to what to sell,” he said. Reading about how Salm on is a high-quality alterna tive to trout, Scott decided to market Salmon from Seattle and Vancouver in the East Coast, especially Philadel phia. The busy, 70-hour-a-week schedule, which began with picking up Salmon at the Hatchling fish. “The longer you can keep thenrln doors, the less trouble you’ll have with predators,’ l said Scott. However, “outside it is less crowdeijf aind the fish get better color and grow faster.” Philadelphia airport and in cluded hours of set up and delivery of Salmon and the other products, “became labor intensive,” he said. “I decided to go back into law and try my hand at politics.” In 1990 he was elected township supervisor, in 1992 (Turn to Page El 3) '
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers