WELCOME | NOVEMBER
WELCOME
TOUGH DECISIONS BEING MADE
Q&A A session session with
with
American Sportfishing
Association President
Glenn Hughes who
answers some key
questions about the
association and its
on-going efforts.
04 www.tackletradeworld.com
previously, Old Ghost, pulled
its operation too at the
beginning of this year, which
begs the question, who’s
next?
Marukyu put a lot of effort
into marketing ‘natural’
baits yet it has pulled out of
the UK at the same time as
our exclusive survey reveals
that sustainability and
good ingredients are key to
buying choices.
I honestly believe
that these Far Eastern
companies that launched
in the UK came with an
air of arrogance that they
were going to dominate
the market and clean
up. Unfortunately, while
these companies had
some ‘fl agship’ products
which sold very well, there
were a number of items
that didn’t, for whatever
reasons, despite R&D and
marketing efforts. This is
where UK companies have
the upper hand – they can
react more quickly to any
market changes and give
customers what they want
immediately. Supply is also
a big problem but that’s
another article altogether
and not just with bait.
Other reasons such
as Brexit were used and
uncertainty in the market
which, to me, is a bit of a
cop out as we still don’t
know how we’ll be affected.
I also think that they
overestimated the size of
the UK market. The UK is
nowhere near as big as their
domestic markets, so was
the end result inevitable?
As I said earlier, it’s a
shame to see a company
pull out of the UK. We’ve
had comments that
suggested the decision
was hardly surprising
considering the lack of
supply and the high cost of
products. One shop was glad
to see them go while a few
others were disappointed
about them leaving. Either
way, they are still operating
in Europe and I wish them
all the best for the future.
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EDITORIAL
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It’s never a nice thing to
see a company leave a
market and, especially for
me, one that I happened
to be involved with for a
number of years.
Back in 2010, Japanese
bait company Marukyu
launched its range of
premium coarse fi shing
baits to the UK with the
slogan, “Science working
with nature.”
I remember its launch day
clearly. It was at the Tackle
& Guns Trade Show where
Sean O’Driscoll handed me
an armful of stickers I had
to place on the fl oor to guide
retailers to the Marukyu
stand.
It was, without doubt, an
eagerly anticipated product
which, at the time, seemed
to captivate the imagination
of retailers that this bait
was indeed the next best
thing. And so it proved, with
an unprecedented amount
of orders from UK dealers.
Every tackle shop you
went into had point of
sale pots of its famous JPZ
pellets, different types of
seaweed-based groundbaits,
pastes, liquids, you name
it, it seemed that this was
a range taking over the UK
bait market.
There’s no denying the
baits helped anglers all
over the country catch
more fi sh and it was even
turning anglers with zero
skill level into virtually
world champions, or so they
thought anyway.
Fast forward eight years
and Marukyu has fi nished
here in the UK. Following
the news I spoke to Howard
Kaye, the company’s
national sales and
marketing manager, who
I’ve known for years and
even fi shed with. It came
as a shock to him and his
team, with no warning of
what was about to happen.
The company I worked for
SOCIAL MEDIA
INDUSTRY PANEL THIS MONTH
fish21’s director of
Sustainability, Dr.
Stuart Mclanaghan
highlights the
benefits of using
circle hooks and their
sustainability impacts.
The Centre of
Sportfishing Policy’s
president, Jeff Angers,
sets the facts straight
surrounding the
Modern Fish Act
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