Editor’s note: SeafoodSource Contributing Editor Lindsey Partos attended last week’s SIAL 2010 international food and beverage exhibition in Paris.
France’s MerAlliance has launched a fish saucisson in a bid to capture market share in the lucrative and blossoming aperitif snack market.
Launched this month under the company’s Armoric brand, the product is squarely positioned as a fish alternative to the classic salami snacks.
“The organoleptic properties of our fish salami are as near as possible to a classic saucisson,” Isabel Sechet, product manager for MerAlliance, told SeafoodSource at last week’s SIAL 2010 international food and beverage exhibition in Paris.
In France, the market for snack foods that accompany drinks, or ready-to-eat foods that straddle between snack and informal dinner, is picking up.
“We wanted to increase the offering in the aperitif snack market and develop a product that uses our expertise in smoked fish,” explained Sechet.
Three years in development, the sliced fish saucisson is available in 70-gram packages and three flavors — tuna and walnuts, tuna and black pepper, and a salmon chorizo.
MerAlliance “really wanted to replicate the process of making traditional saucisson, but with fish,” said Sechet. As a result, the salami is fermented. “We integrated a fermentation ingredient into the formulation,” she noted.
As for the chorizo, “We really wanted to replicate the taste of a classic chorizo,” added Sechet.
MerAlliance markets the product as an alternative to meat saucisson but with fewer calories, less fat, less salt and rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
In terms of market penetration, MerAlliance will do “little” to promote of the product, as its objective is to position the fish saucisson as a private-label product.
“We use the Armori brand as a window on our innovation,” said Sechet.
MerAlliance is a Brittany-based firm with an annual turnover of EUR 80 million.
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