Ron Rogness wants to take GAPP Partnership Program international

Seafood industry veteran Ronald Rogness joined the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) as its director of industry relations, partnerships, and fishery analysis in February 2023. In this position, Rogness oversees the GAPP Partnership Program and membership services including the production of GAPP’s fishery and trade reports. Rogness previously served as a consultant to the organization on economic and fishery matters, and prior to that, worked as vice president of sustainability and corporate relations at American Seafoods.

SeafoodSource: You had escaped the seafood business. Why are you jumping back in?

Rogness: When I left American Seafoods in 2018, the primary reason for doing so was I wanted to move back to Wisconsin to be closer to my family. And people laugh at me for saying this now, but I also wanted to experience four seasons, because Seattle only has two, and, of course, that first winter, it got to 41-below one night 35-below the next night, so I got a little tired of winter pretty quick. But I had accepted a position outside the seafood industry in supply services for the oil and gas business – frac sand supply and I was happy doing it, but shortly after GAPP CEO Craig Morris came on board,, he contacted me and said that he'd been looking for someone who could provide him a good, unbiased perspective on issues facing the Wild Alaska Pollock industry and people kept suggesting me, so he asked if I would be willing to consult with GAPP. And then in April of 2021, I decided I wanted to start moving out of oil and gas, and knew if there was a natural fit for me, it would be in Wild Alaska pollock, where I've worked in a variety of capacities since 1984. I just think Wild Alaska pollock is just one of the most amazing resources. It’s resilient, abundant – a wonderful sustainability story. Since Wild Alaska pollock was kind of in my DNA, I expanded my role to half time.  Then in February of this year, I moved into a full-time position with GAPP.

SeafoodSource: What will you be doing in your new position?

Rogness: The primary change in my roles and responsibilities is the addition of managing GAPP’s Partnership Program. Christine Durkin did a phenomenal job over the last several years managing that program, and she had such a strong marketing expertise that she was able to leverage with our partners and it worked really well. Now she's moving on, and while I certainly don’t have Christine’s marketing chops, I had worked with marketing during my time in purchasing at Long John Silvers. I will also provide assistance in things that we're doing in the public relations arena on issues related to the fishery. And I’ll handle a lot of member services as I'm still kind of a go-to person when it comes to data requests and what's going on with trade data.

SeafoodSource: What are the biggest challenges you’ll face in your new role?

Rogness: There's a lot of administration associated with the partnership program, so it's going to test my organizational skills. Especially after Covid, with the challenges that it brought to the distribution chain, a lot of our planned events got shifted backward in time. So we still have a few programs running this year that were originally supposed to run in the prior years in addition to our new programs. But the biggest thing will be getting to know the people involved with the program and making sure that we are getting everything out of the partnership program that we can.

SeafoodSource: What are your goals for your work with the partnership program?

Rogness: The partnership program is for both retail and foodservice. We've got programs in both areas, and then in some different channels like institutional foodservice. It's definitely an objective to continue to get the word out on the partnership program and to expand into areas where maybe wild Alaska pollock hasn't had a strong presence historically. Colleges and hospital foodservice, to me, represent a great opportunity. And there will be an increased focus on international expansion.  One of our objectives this year is to take a long-term look at what the appropriate balance of international and domestic programs will be. GAPP did a 2040 study that identified high-priority markets overseas that we’ll incorporate that into our work, and we’ll be identifying high quality potential foreign partners. And then I’ll just keep doing work to elevate the species to the extent that we can in new and higher-value markets. We love our current partners and we very much appreciate them, but we do want to expand the program into new channels.

SeafoodSource: The value proposition for pollock has always been its main selling point. If you had one message, is it that pollock is a less-expensive alternative to cod and other premium whitefish, or is it that Alaska pollock should be bringing in nearly as much money as cod should be, since it tastes just as good?

Rogness: The relative affordability of Alaska pollock compared to alternative whitefish is a reality, and given the food inflation that we've seen over the last few years, I think that the affordability message is very important.  But yeah, clearly, I believe that Alaska pollock can rest on its own merits, whether it is its sustainability credentials, nutrition, or taste.  Alaska pollock eats just as well as any whitefish out there. The partnership we are doing with Nordstrom featuring a blackened wild Alaska pollock and potato chowder and a blackened wild Alaska pollock taco salad, are perfect examples of the segments Wild Alaska pollock deserves to be in.

SeafoodSource: Where do you think GAPP stands in terms of importance for the Alaska pollock market?

Rogness: I think the biggest asset of GAPP …

Photo courtesy of GAPP