Edmonds, Washington, U.S.A.-based fishing company Alaskan Leader Seafood is pushing to expand its Wild Alaska Black Cod with Hikari Miso Marinade product to European retailers.
“Our initiative is to continue that success story that we’ve had in the United States,” Alaskan Leader Seafood President Scott Sandvig told SeafoodSource at the 2026 Seafood Expo Global, taking place in Barcelona, Spain, from 21 to 23 April. “We’ve had some success in Northern Europe as well, and now we’re looking for restaurant chains and grocery store chains to start to be a little more exposed to the product and pick it up.”
In the U.S., sales for its miso black cod product have gone up 1,000 percent, Sandvig said, with consumer testimonials trending positively. Sandvig said the company hopes the same “easiness and convenience” that it’s cashed in on in the U.S. translates to the European market.
Costco locations in the United Kingdom currently carry the product, which Sandvig said has served as a case study.
In Alaska, Sandvig said the company purchases black cod across the state, from the Southeast through the Gulf of Alaska up to Dutch Harbor. This allows the company to not grow too reliant on one single port or area and, instead, utilize state-wide catch data when purchasing.
“We’re hitting every port. We’re working with everybody in the state as a collective group to make sure that we can not only be supplied, but we’re [also] supporting everybody, and with that, we’re able to really grow this business,” Sandvig said.
Traditionally, Sandvig said that black cod used to ship to Japan as a commodity but can now ship to the U.S. and Europe as a value-added form that’s easily preparable. The miso is sourced from Nagano, Japan, and shipped to the processing facility in Seattle, Washington, to be pre-marinated, frozen, and vacuum sealed.
“We’re actually using authentic miso made in Japan and bring that to our processing facility in Seattle, applying it to the black cod, vacuum sealing it frozen, and then pushing it out in the marketplace,” Sandvig said. “Miso and black cod have been a great pairing in the high-end Japanese restaurant world for a number of years. We wanted to take that concept and actually bring it to scale and then bring it to the marketplace in a retail format.”
Sandvig said the company is hoping to expand to both restaurants and retailers, with “fully customizable” portion sizes ranging from a 10-pound case to a 25-pound case, as well as individual retail units in whole fillets or 6-, 8-, 12-, 16-, or 24-ounce packages.
“You can slack it out for a seafood counter, you can put it on your restaurant menus, or you can sell it out of the freezer doors or bunkers,” Sandvig said.
The best part, Sandvig said, is the customization available for retailers and, simultaneously, for consumers.
He added that higher-end restaurants even marinate black cod for three to four days to ensure the flavor penetrates the fish, and cooking methods can include pan seared, broiled, or air fried.
“You have that nice char, and then the black cod itself is very oily, fatty, and it actually lives 1,000 feet deep in order to survive at that temperature and pressure it has to have a high oil content,” Sandvig said. “For the general consumer who’s nervous or intimidated by cooking wild-caught seafood, to make sure they don’t overcook it or dry it out, black cod is their best friend.”
Besides black cod, the company is now also pushing a salmon fillet topped with North Pacific shrimp scampi.
“It is an amazing product that hits a lot of key points for buyers,” Sandvig said. “It’s on trend with flavor profiles, it’s easy to cook and prepare, and it’s a really new, sustainable fish that’s coming out of the marketplace.”
