Christine Blank

Global supermarket giant Tesco PLC launched its Fresh & Easy format in the United States to much fanfare in 2007. Tesco had planned to open nearly 1,000 of the 12,000-square-foot stores within five years.

However, the London-based retailer has experienced a bumpy road with Fresh & Easy across the pond and is now facing increased competition and declining profits in the U.K.

Tesco announced earlier this year that it would be

The decision by eight major Alaska salmon processors to pass on Marine Stewardship Council certification this fall has not necessarily been a popular one. But Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute are actively defending the decision while promoting a new certification program. Last year, Alaska salmon was awarded Responsible Fisheries Management Certification via an independent, third-party assessment conducted by

U.S. seafood restaurant chains bounced back in 2011, as the economy improved and more consumers returned to dining out.

According to Technomic’s new “Top 500” restaurant chain report, the 19 casual-dining seafood chains in the top 500 grossed USD 5 billion in sales in 2011, with an average sales growth rate of 2.5 percent.

Overall, the nation’s 500 largest chains registered a 3.4 percent sales increase in 2011, a sharp improvement over a

A new Internet-based seafood trading service will allow buyers to contract for fresh product in forward time, as an alternative to the spot auction model.

Launched at the International Boston Seafood Show last week, FYSH-X has enlisted supermarket and restaurant chains as buyers, along with sellers that include farmers, trappers, longliners and gillnetters. The service will go live in April.

On FYSH-X’s exchange, vessels list the species and

The delicate way that Japanese restaurateurs and retailers handle their fish is something that renowned New York Chef David Bouley, owner of Bouley restaurant in TriBeCa, aims to communicate with attendees of the International Boston Seafood Show.

Bouley — whose newest venture, brushstroke, is a kaiseki restaurant (kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner) — is the featured speaker at a presentation titled “Japanese Seafood for

What started out as a way for New Hampshire lobstermen to get more value for one-clawed lobsters, or “culls,” has led to a successful regional pasta business.

Lobsterman Damon Frampton opened the Portsmouth Lobster Co. of Portsmouth, N.H., in 2009, when the value of the lobster catch was 15 percent less than its three-year average. Teaming up with David Hickman — who had worked on Frampton’s lobster boat for about a year — the pair set

Among the seven finalists in the retail category at the International Boston Seafood Show’s Seafood Excellence Awards is a Boston company that’s latching on to a fast-growing trend — seafood pot pies.

Maristella’s Fine Foods is launching its Classic Pot Pie line of frozen seafood pot pies at the 2012 event, which kicks off on 11 March. The pot pies come in four varieties — Wild Caught Atlantic Haddock with Sherry & Nutmeg, Wild

The USD 20 million Tuna the Wonderfish marketing campaign is being scaled back significantly this year, due to a spike in the cost of raw materials and other expenses by the major tuna processors.

The United States’ top three canned tuna brands — StarKist, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee — and a consortium of Thai tuna processors opted to do away with the most expensive portion of the campaign, TV advertising, and take a different

Lent kicks off on Wednesday, so it’s no wonder that supermarkets across the United States are ramping up their seafood promotions to correlate with the season and its eat-fish-on-Friday tradition.

Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, which has more than 250 stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, is among them.

“Fish fries will be held at participating stores in our prepared foods department on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during

Many major U.S. restaurant chains are taking advantage of the fast-appraoching Lenten season with new fish sandwiches and other seafood items.

It’s a big time of year for seafood sales. Lent, which starts on Wednesday and ends on 5 April, is honored by more than 1.18 billion baptized Catholics worldwide. There are a number of other non-practicing Catholics who also recognize the tradition of not eating meat on Fridays during Lent.

“Lent is the