Talking Shop with... Bluzette Carline

Bluzette Carline, director of marketing at Beaver Street Fisheries, says the company’s new products appeal to consumers’ needs. Tell us about Beaver Street Fisheries. Bluzette Carline: Beaver Street Fisheries (BSF) is a leading importer, manufacturer and distributor of frozen seafood and meat products in the U.S. and around the world. For more than 60 years, this family-owned and operated company has provided premium products to the food-service industry and retail market. Sea Best is the flagship brand of Beaver Street Fisheries and is sold in retailers nationwide. Sea Best offers a full line of frozen fish fillets including premium varieties (ahi tuna, mahi, grouper, snapper), value varieties (cod, catfish, whiting), value-added and breaded seafood (stuffed clams, Maine lobster cakes, shrimp, calamari, scallops) and shellfish (lobster, crab). In 2014, BSF launched Grillman’s, introducing a new brand of frankfurters to the category. Grillman’s was a passion project of the Frisch brothers, third-generation owners of BSF with extensive experience in the food industry. Each frank in Grillman’s three lines of all-beef franks are made from only premium cuts of beef and a blend of spices, and contain no fillers or artificial preservatives. What are some of the new products BSF has hitting the marketplace? Sea Best recently introduced Signature Singles to the Signature product line, which is known for providing customers sophisticated, chef-inspired seafood entrées. Signature Singles offer the same quality in a single-serve, gourmet on-the-go meal that can be prepared in as little as four minutes. The microwavable entrée choices include scallops and linguini, stuffed clams, black bean and shrimp tacos, tilapia Florentine and spinach and artichoke flounder. The launch of the new Grillman’s brand also allowed us to introduce three new franks to the marketplace. Grillman’s products feature three top-quality, all-beef franks that contain no fillers and no artificial preservatives—all-beef franks, Black Angus franks and all-natural Black Angus franks. The recipe and blend of spices was perfected after more than one year in our test kitchen. How can these products help retailers build more sales and profits? The Sea Best Signature Singles and Grillman’s franks will help build sales and profits by appealing to customer need. In today’s busy world, customers need to be able to feed themselves and their families with high-quality food that can be quickly and easily prepared. Sea Best Signature Singles appeal directly to the needs for quality and convenience. Grillman’s franks will also appeal to customers’ desire for high-quality, easy to prepare food options. With no fillers or artificial preservatives, and with what we believe to be a delicious blend of spices, Grillman’s provides customers with franks in which they can taste the quality. What do retailers need to do to maximize sales from these items in terms of merchandising and marketing? BSF places great importance on working directly with retailers to plan and execute marketing and merchandising strategies that will result in optimal sales of our products. A key aspect of this partnership is developing promotional strategies such as price discounts, BOGO offers and manufacturer coupon programs that will attract new and returning customers. What does the future hold for Beaver Street Fisheries and the various categories it competes in? BSF plans to continue its aggressive push in the seafood and meat categories. As with our recent product introductions, we plan to introduce items that consumers are looking for on the shelves. We are constantly collecting consumer input to guide the development of new product introductions. We maintain focus on meeting the demand for products shoppers are looking for, and continue to use the highest quality ingredients that customers expect from our brands.