U.S. smoked salmon sales have dropped over the past year despite the category's gains elsewhere, but new products from Kvaroy Arctic, Ocean Beauty, and Acme Smoked Fish aim to reverse that trend in 2024.
Sales of smoked salmon declined 7.2 percent year over year across all U.S. retailers in the fourth quarter of 2023, per Circana OmniMarket Integrated Fresh data. Specifically, frozen smoked salmon sales dropped 16.9 percent, refrigerated smoked salmon sales declined 7 percent, and shelf-stable smoked salmon sales fell 1.6 percent.
“Smoked salmon has struggled, and part of it’s due to seafood seeing a decline in occasional buyers. In general, about 45 percent of the volume is bought by the top 10 percent of customers, but some of the occasional buyers have slipped,” Circana’s Fresh Foods Practice Executive Vice President Chris DuBois said.
To regain some volume in 2024, DuBois said suppliers and retailers should turn some of their marketing focus toward entertaining-at-home opportunities.
“Entertaining at home has been the source of growth for a lot of categories in the deli, and party trays are a great example. We’re now seeing strong growth not only in supermarkets but convenience stores for deli trays,” DuBois said.
Another example of entertaining-at-home trends in the seafood space that have grown in popularity is charcuterie, or “seacuterie,” boards that align with the general growth of snacking and convenience products.
Capitalizing on these trends, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.-based Acme Smoked Fish recently launched “Lox in a Box” snack kits. The kits include two options: smoked salmon with cream cheese or smoked salmon with a guacamole spread, both of which come with artisanal crackers and a utensil “so it can be enjoyed anywhere from the picnic table to the conference room,” Acme sai in a press release. The new product was recently named a finalist in the 2024 Seafood Excellence Awards.
Similarly, Indre Kvarøy, Norway-based farmed salmon supplier Kvarøy Arctic is launching its first smoked salmon product produced under its own label, with plans to market it as an ingredient in many different dishes or as a quick, healthy snack, Kvarøy Arctic Chief Marketing Officer Jennifer Bushman said.
After previously leaning into its partnership with food manufacturer Santa Barbara Smokehouse to produce smoked salmon, Kvarøy, although continuing to collaborate with Santa Barbara Smokehouse, now has the opportunity to produce its own smoked product, Bushman said, “creating a luxurious layered quality and flavor that will transport you to the great Norwegian outdoors.”
“The cold temperature and currents of the pristine Arctic waters provide the perfect environment for raising healthy salmon, which results in a buttery texture and naturally rich flavor that endures to the final product,” she said.
The new product, which launches in 425 Whole Foods Market stores in early March, features a price point of USD 9.99 (EUR 9.22) per 4-ounce package, helping it fit into customers’ budgets, Bushman said. The company is hoping to convince shoppers that smoked salmon is more than just a product for a “special occasion,” as they may have viewed it previously, she said.
Like Acme and Kvaroy, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Ocean Beauty is touting smoked salmon as an ingredient in its new Echo Falls Applewood Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon Sockeye Lox Bits and Pieces line.
Sold in 6-ounce packages, the cold-smoked salmon lox bits are designed for topping bagels, blending into a quiche or scrambled eggs, or dressing up “your favorite spread,” the company said in a press release.
“We are adding smoked salmon products that are primarily ingredients [and] continuing to innovate,” Ocean Beauty Sales and Marketing Vice President Ron Christianson told SeafoodSource. He said the product is helping Ocean Beauty penetrate “the snacking segment as well as … charcuterie boards.”
The supplier also recently launched Honey-Cured Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Nuggets under its Echo Falls brand. The product won first place in the retail category at the 2023 Alaska Symphony of Seafood competition on 13 November.
