Case Study

Www.pefa.com: Pan European fish auctions - implementing a virtual marketplace

15 pages
July 2001
Reference: IMD-6-0189

Marie-Jeanne Becaus-Pieters was founder and president of the Pan European network of Fish Auctions (PEFA). Created to link fish auctions across Europe, Pefa.com was the first Internet-based market exchange for the remote trading of fresh fish in real time. The Zeebrugge fish auction, n.v. Zeebrugse Visveiling, was to be the first to participate in the new marketplace scheduled to go live in July 1998. PEFA’s strategy was primarily based on matching northern European supplies of fresh fish with the large demand for fish in southern Europe. In addition, with access to fish supplies, both large and small, in the most remote parts of northern, western and southern Europe, buyers throughout the region would have a much broader pallet of fish products from which to choose. As of June 1998, Ms. Becaus-Pieters recognized that the major challenge lay not in the refinement of the Pefa business model but in making it work. The liquidity and viability of the exchange would depend not only on providing the opportunity of trading on-line but also on implementing those supply chain management processes essential to ensure the quality and the on-time, in-full delivery of the fish purchased.

Keywords
Fish Auction, eCommerce, Virtual Marketplace, Fishery, Production Management, Operations Management
Settings
Europe, Belgium
Food Production, Fishery
June 1998
Type
Field Research
Copyright
© 2001
Available Languages
English
Related material
Teaching note, Video
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