For Cozy Harbor Seafood, piquing European buyers’ interest in value-added American lobster products has been a long and winding road.
“Back in 2003, when I first approached the EU market, buyers had no interest in frozen lobster tails, frozen lobster meat, frozen whole cooked lobster,” explained John Norton, president and CEO of the Portland, Maine-based company. “They locked in to lobster for holiday use, and it had to be whole and live, primarily. They discounted the idea of buying the different parts of the lobster separately.”
Today, it’s a different story, and European retail and foodservice buyers are “much more interested” in value-added American lobster products.
So what happened? “My take is that buyers and merchandisers were seeing that type of shift [toward value-added seafood products] in other markets. They’re saying to themselves, ‘If it works for crab, it might work for lobster,’” said Norton.
Then there’s the economy. The EU economy is lagging, arguably more so than the U.S. economy, and consumers are looking for a value at the supermarket. They’re still treating themselves, but they’re also looking for the convenience that, say, a ready-to-heat lobster entrée offers, said Norton.
European chefs are also realizing that lobster is a value. With consumers dining out less frequently, profit margins narrowing and labor costs rising, chefs are saving on labor in the back of the house by purchasing lobster that’s already been processed, as opposed to live product, explained Norton.
Cozy Harbor offers retail and foodservice packs of frozen lobster in various product forms, including tails, pieces and meat, all of which will be on display at the European Seafood Exposition later this month. Will Beriau, a chef and retired culinary arts instructor, has developed a number of recipes featuring the company’s frozen lobster meat, including Lobster Fried Rice, Lobster Chowder with Sweet Corn and Potatoes, and Lobster Ragout with Bacon and Chorizo.
