pelagic fish form the Adriatic. An organizational model was set up and a plan
for further development of the system. Moreover, the list of meals to be
offered was compiled and the complete processes, from fish capture
procedures, transportation, processing and delivery to the restaurants was
elaborated. A unique logo design was created to make the future outlets of
“Srdela Snack” recognizable and attractive for the consumers.
The organizational and management model of the system includes the
franchise organization which issues franchise agreements to the interested
fishermen, processors and restaurant- owners and in return they must agree to
follow the rules set by the organization. These rules describe the procedures
that each of the members must perform to ensure high quality end- product.
In order to test the model set in this project, a pilot research was conducted.
Before the test phase of the project, the menu and quality standards were set;
ideas for packaging and promotion material were decided upon, and finally the
test- object on the Adriatic coast was chosen as the venue of pilot research.
The menu consisted of boiled, grilled and fried sardines, mackerel fillets, tuna
steaks, salted and marinated anchovies. In addition to food, red and white
wine from Dalmatian region was offered. The menu also included traditional
Dalmatian dessert “fritule”, thus rendering the menu completely made of food
characteristic for the region.
The goal of this paper is to describe the introduction of a new model of
marketing for pelagic fish and to present the results of the pilot project in
which we tested the model described.
Method
The pilot research was conducted in a restaurant in Kali, on the island of
Ugljan in central Dalmatia. The restaurant in this particular little town was
chosen because this island has a long tradition of fishing and the largest
number of fishing vessels in Croatia. Therefore, the fishermen association
from Kali was included as the first supplier of pelagic fish for the test
restaurant. The test- restaurant “Trata” (the name symbolizes one sort of
fishing net) was the first “Srdela Snack” outlet which offered a menu of pelagic
fish food.
The testing period lasted for one month in summer (mid July till end of
August 2004.) which is the time of peak tourist season in Croatia. However, it
is necessary to say that Kali is not a typical tourist destination but mainly a
fishing village which was one of the limitations of this pilot project.
In order to evaluate the pilot project, a number of economic analyses were
made regarding the success of sales during the test period. Besides economic
calculations, a combination of consumer survey and interviews with restaurant
visitors was conducted. In this way we determined the level of consumer
satisfaction with the services and food offered in the test object. The sample
consisted of 95 Croatian consumers and 32 foreign consumers (mainly from
Germany, Italy and Slovenia). Consumers who participated in the research were
chosen randomly among those who ordered a meal from the “Srdela Snack”
menu.