So you've made the decision to implement ozone technology in your facility. What drove you to make that decision? Was it strictly a cost savings move? A desire to be more environmentally friendly? A need to improve the quality and/or safety of your product?

Regardless of the reason, the food industry tends to focus on the obvious quantifiable benefits ozone brings along with it. Shelf life extension, chemical reductions, labor savings, and efficiency increases all help to make the decision easier but... what about other benefits that may not be so obvious?

This, of course, leads us into this months feature topic. How to effectively market your new ozone system. Should your company be advertising its ozone use? Without a doubt, YES!!! If you're not, you may be missing out on a large piece of your return on investment.

One of the most effective and simplest ways to market your ozone use is to encourage customer visits to the facility. Walk them around and let them see and smell the difference. The difference between an ozone vs. non-ozone plant is like night and day. Many seafood operations use this strategically as part of their sales process to gain new customers.

Do you supply fresh product? Be sure to market your improved quality. Most operations see a minimum of two to three days of additional shelf life on products treated with ozone. You can now offer the same product as your competitor but with improved quality and longer shelf life. Use this to your advantage!

Advertise your business as "environmentally friendly". Ozone is an organic sanitizing technology that significantly reduces or replaces conventional chemical usage. This reduces the amount of harsh chemicals being dumped down the drain. More and more customers are demanding alternatives that are safe for the environment, ozone is a perfect fit to meet those demands.

Share the fact that your plant is kept clean continuously with ozone. Traditional cleaning methods allow bacteria to grow all day long until the plant must shut down for sanitation. Ozone applied to the processing surfaces during production helps to keep that bacteria growth controlled. Which fish would you rather buy? The one processed at the beginning or end of the day? With ozone, the quality is consistent regardless of the time it was processed.

Any or all of these suggestions can easily be placed into your existing marketing program. A simple handout educating your sales staff is important as well. Print quick reference guides listing the benefits so your team can speak to them while taking orders over the phone. Now, your entire sales staff are "experts" in ozone.

Ozone International is here to help guide you through the process of implementing your ozone program. Contact one of our seafood specialists for more information.