Sea Shanty

There was an old man from Nantucket.

He loved seafood so much he ate it by the bucket.

To Seafood Expo North America he went;

He thought the assortment was heaven-sent.

But when he saw a good, old-fashioned oyster he said,

“Oh, just shuck it!”

That is because from candied salmon caramel ice cream to California calamari sausage, “innovation” was the key word at Seafood Expo North America, held in March at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Prepared entrées, meal kits, poke, sustainable products, traceability and brands with stories to tell were all the rage. 

Take Susanna Lumley—known in industry circles as Sockeye Suzy—for example. A member of the Yakima Nation tribe, she was marketing her namesake line of canned, fresh and frozen salmon products caught on the Columbia River, and promoted with the help of Indian Country, a group that markets products made and produced by Native Americans. 

“The American Indian Foods Program has been taking us all over, to places like Hong Kong,” said Lumley, owner of White Swan, Wash.-based Sockeye Suzy. “We do salmon, sturgeon, everything that we catch on the Columbia River. I buy this fish from the crews and have it canned by Skipanon Brand in Warrenton, Ore. Until now we were sold in specialty and wine shops, but we just got into IGA stores in Washington and Oregon.” 

​Fishpeople Seafood also had a tale to tell. Known for its pouched shelf-stable soups, officials of the Portland, Ore.-based company were debuting frozen meal kits. Each two-serving box contains a broilable tray with two fish filets, a celebrity-chef crafted topper, foil, garnish and a recipe card with simple instructions. It is such a novelty it won the “2017 Best Retail Product” award at the show.  

“We want people to understand the story behind their fish,” said Ken Plasse, CEO of Fishpeople Seafood. “The story matters. You can go onto our website and see the fisherman who caught your fish. Because of the way we are treating the fish and because of the story, eatability varies. We can take this same fish and have different eatability characteristics just on how we treated it. In wine and chocolate everybody believes that. With fish it matters more, but it seems the industry doesn’t care and we’re trying to shift that.”    

No one knows more about good seafood than the Japanese, and that is why officials from Jalux Americas were at the show launching their new Gourmet Japan brand of frozen fish entrées, including lemon pepper wild (Russian) salmon, Saikyo Miso salmon and Lemon Pepper basa.  

“We are a Japanese company and we know how to make an authentic Japanese product,” said Shinko Cornett, senior manager trading, general merchandise at Jalux Americas, based in El Segundo, Calif. “Our product is fully cooked and only has to be microwaved one to two minutes. We have no preservatives or additives at all.”  

Officials at Cheat!ng Gourmet were debuting their frozen Shrimp Rice Bowls in Chipotle, Cilantro Lime, Garlic Butter and Sesame Ginger varieties. “It is right on trend, high in protein and low in calories with only 250 calories per serving, that cooks up in the microwave in a bowl,” said Kevin Mannering, business development manager for Cheat!ng Gourmet, based in Auburn, Maine. 

Seeing Arctic Red

Among the products showcased at Clearwater Seafoods were Arctic Surf Clams, known for their vibrant red flesh. “We have them available as a sushi-ready slice,” said Paula Isnor, assistant marketing manager at Clearwater Seafoods, based in Bedford, N.S., Canada. “Historically we send these to Japan where they are used as a sushi topping, but they are really catching on in North America and we have a huge amount of supply.”

Last year Clearwater commissioned its own fishing vessel to harvest Arctic Surf Clams, allowing it to bring in a record haul. In addition to frozen, Clearwater Arctic Surf Clams are available in two 51-ounce foodservice can varieties for use in chowders and other dishes. 

Also being featured was Norway Lobster, commonly known as langoustine. “We sell it in many formats, including whole, tail portions both shell-on and shell-off, and the ‘cluster,’ which is taking some of the smaller tails, freezing them together to get a nice lump of lobster meat,” Isnor said.

Over at the Ecuador Pavilion, shrimp were a big deal. 

Julio Aguirre, general manager of Pescardeg, based in Guayaquil, Ecuador, noted his firm specializes in value-added farm-raised and wild-caught shrimp, plus fresh tuna, swordfish, grouper, snapper and mahi mahi. “With shrimp, we do mostly wild, but we have our own farms as well,” he said. “Our wild shrimp are caught by artisanal fishermen using smaller boats, so they haul in a higher quality than the bigger boats. Our fish are caught the old-fashioned pole fishing method, with one person using a pole.” 

​Winrep, also based in Guayaquil, is a relatively new player, having been in business for just four years, but is already putting a major addition on its processing plant. “We buy shrimp from certified producers and we process it,” said Rafael Toro Ponce, CEO. The company specializes in raw whole, headless and peeled shrimp, as well as jumbo wild-caught prawns. “Our shrimp are the Vannemei (white shrimp) marketed under the White Tail, De Primera, Vanna and Winner brands, and we can do private label for stores.”     

In addition to crustaceans, mollusks were also well represented at the show. 

Officials at Jamestown Seafood were debuting their line of oysters, raised off of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. “We are the furthest northwestern oyster grower in Washington,” said Terri Grinnell, business manager of the Port Angeles, Wash.-based company. Jamestown harvests two types of oysters—tumbled oysters, that are rolled as the tide goes out and in, resulting in a rounder oyster with a smoother shell, and beach oysters, the same species, but with a dramatically different roughhewn shell.

“The tumbling produces a nice, deep-cup oyster, so they are excellent for shooting oysters or eating raw,” Grinnell said. “They have a distinct flavor that comes from the nutrients they pull from the bay, and are ‘brazenly briny’ as some of our restaurateur customers say. The beach oysters pull a little more minerality out of the sand and have a more organic, stronger taste, and the shells are just beautiful.”

Officials at High Liner Foods, the Portsmouth, N.H.-based manufacturer of the Sea Cuisine brand, were talking with buyers about how to bring the freshness back to frozen. “We want to make frozen seem fresher, and also be bold to bring more people to seafood,” said Jeff Tahnk, vice president, retail marketing. “You have to stand out on shelf, have a big, bold flavor and taste great. You want to stand 10 feet away from the product and notice it. Last year we had eight of the 10 top new items in the category, and that was just from one pilot test with Kroger. We’re expanding that line nationally now. Our goal is to be nationwide over the next few months and have a sampling tour over the summer with food trucks out sampling in a bunch of cities.” 

Not all the seafood at the show was saltwater.

The crusted farm-raised trout sampled at the Clear Springs Foods booth was so good the samples were gone as soon as they were put out. “Our Spicy Thai Crusted Rainbow Trout is among our newest flavors,” said Jessica Henry, director of marketing at Clear Springs Foods, based in Buhl, Idaho. “Our Honey Mustard Pretzel Crust was introduced last year. It is on-trend with things you see in restaurants, but it works well in the seafood case.”  

Officials at Sealed Air, based in Duncan, S.C., were touting how improved packaging can ignite sales in the seafood case. Sean Brady, ready meals/case-ready market development manager, food care, was showing passersby a frozen shrink-sealed white plate of fish and vegetables that is microwave ready. “Not only has our packaging improved, but the quality of ingredients has changed, which has made this viable,” he said. “People like to see what they are buying and this packaging allows it.”

On the fresh side of the case, Sealed Air was showcasing films that allow fish to be wrapped and sold whole, like a loin of pork, along with high clarity trays that allow the consumer to see the bottom of the product. “You are able to flip the product over and see it completely,” said Kari Dawson-Ekeland, director of marketing, center of store food care. “The retailer doesn’t need to put in the little absorbent pad because this is a skin pack. It holds all that moisture into the fish, so it doesn’t dry out. It can be frozen, so the retailer can slack it out in-store at the rate they need to move it.”

Dawson-Ekeland suggested retailers contact their suppliers and ask them to stock the new packaging. “If retailers have questions they should call us and we’ll talk to them through our Retail Task Force group that interfaces with them to bring them up to speed about this new packaging,” she said, adding that she sees this type of packaging usurping traditional on-ice service display cases. “A lot of grocery stores may still want to do theater on the weekends or Ash Wednesday with the big mountains of ice, but for day-to-day type sales this is where we’re going. We estimate retailers can save up to 12 hours a week in case cleaning by switching to packaged.”

Anyone who did not think one could find steaks at a seafood show did not visit the Ocean Garden booth. There, calamari steaks were one of the dozens of items on display. “The squid is a very large animal, so we cut the tube, flatten it out, tenderize it, cut to portion size and sell it in 5-pound boxes. It makes a terrific main dish,” said Celso Lopez, CFO at San Diego-based Ocean Garden. “New this year is our foodservice salmon poke and tuna poke. We’ve had salmon for many years, but the new thing is the poke cubes. Our salmon poke has a ‘natural cut’ so it is not the perfect cubes. We believe that is an added value. Our current packs are for foodservice, but we are planning for a retail pack this year as well.” 

Based on the raves the folks at Del Mar Seafoods were getting for the samples of their experimental California Calamari Sausage, created by chef Kevin Butler, do not be surprised to see it on store shelves soon. Made with the same spices found in a typical pork sausage, California Calamari Sausage has a similar taste—but with only 60 calories per link, compared to 220 for the leading pork sausage brand. 

“We’re in the early stages, but based on the feedback we have been getting at the show it is definitely something we’re going to go forward with,” said Joe Roggio, CFO of Del Mar Seafoods, based in Watsonville, Calif.