Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based Giant Eagle is emphasizing the value and quality of its seafood as part of a new “Because it Matters” business strategy.
The operator of more than 200 grocery stores in the U.S. Northeast said it launched the strategy to reaffirm its commitment to “better everyday value, better quality and service, and a better overall shopping experience.” In a release, Giant Eagle said it is investing USD 100 million (EUR 85 million) in new and brighter stores and more everyday value and quality.
Over the past year, grocery prices have been influenced by compounding factors – including recent and existing tariff implementation, fluctuations in transportation costs, and product availability challenges, Giant Eagle said. Despite the many challenges Giant Eagle Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Justin Weinstein said its “commitments to quality, service, and being a leading employer across the communities we serve cannot come at the expense of prices that make choosing to shop with us a challenge."
Weinstein said the company plans to introduce several savings-focused initiatives throughout the remainder of 2025 to keep costs low, and the retailer is working with its suppliers to ensure it can offer shoppers lower costs. Giant Eagle said it is launching a seasonal pricing initiative aimed at providing customers with “immediate relief from inflation.”
“The company will invest millions of dollars to reduce prices on dozens of the most frequently purchased items across its supermarkets, including family meal essentials like proteins, produce, and pantry staples,” Giant Eagle said.
The company said seafood will be a primary focus of its “Because it Matters” strategy. Seafood often carries a perceived premium relative to other proteins such as chicken and pork, due to higher input costs, Giant Eagle Senior Director, Public Relations & Sports Partnerships Dan Donovan told SeafoodSource.
“In a challenging economic environment, customers tend to shift toward lower-cost proteins and seafood can get ‘priced out’ of weekly rotation. We recognize that many of our customers still want to enjoy fresh seafood, so we look to offer value on items like shrimp, imitation crabmeat, and fresh fillets through our weekly sales,” he said.
As a result, the company is running “hot front page features” on key seafood items, particularly shrimp, “since it is one of our most relevant and important seafood categories,” Donovan said.
The retailer will be promoting seafood throughout National Seafood Month in October, and will be offering a “high-value” one-day sale on salmon for National Seafood Day on 8 October.
“By continuing to find ways to offer value in seafood, we are able to help preserve the role of seafood in shopper diets and maintain category traffic,” Donovan said.
The Because it Matters strategy will also prioritize quality and service by offering a wide variety of fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery and prepared meals and making deliveries to its stores seven days a week “to ensure peak quality and flavor,” the retailer said.
“Our commitment to better quality and better service directly supports the ongoing evolution of our seafood department,” Donovan said. “We’re proud of our strong foundation in sustainable sourcing, and we’re excited to build upon it.”
To that end, the company recently achieved a milestone by certifying its Nature’s Basket shrimp line as Fair Trade — the first U.S. retailer to have an entire private-label seafood line Fair Trade Certified, Donovan noted.
“We’ve seen strong customer response to our Fair Trade Certified shrimp, and we’re actively working to expand this program into additional seafood categories,” Donovan said. “By partnering with responsible fisheries and suppliers, we’re making it easier for our customers to feel good about the seafood they’re bringing home – from both a quality and sustainability standpoint.”
Giant Eagle said it also continues to look for opportunities to deepen partnerships with local fisheries to bring greater freshness, shorten its transport chains, and bring more compelling stories to customers, Donovan said.
The retailer said as part of that look to local sourcing it is collaborating with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to evaluate and improve its supply chains. It is also encouraging fisheries improvement projects (FIPs) and aquaculture improvement projects (AIPs) in partnership with suppliers.
Giant Eagle joined a FIP with WWF and Finance Earth that supports investments into more sustainable fishing globally.
“This innovative financing model focuses on reversing the trend of fisheries decline and scaling global fisheries improvements toward nature-positive outcomes for healthier marine ecosystems, thriving fishing communities, and a sustainable blue economy,” Donovan said.
Giant Eagle’s Because it Matters strategy also involves hiring and training food professionals such as certified butchers, bakers, cake decorators, and cheese mongers.
Donovan said Giant Eagle has long invested in enhancing the knowledge of its seafood team members and leadership by providing high quality training. In addition to seafood handling and safety standards, seafood employees receive suitability and certifications education, product knowledge and seasonal programming, promotion execution, and merchandising best practices.
“Through our industry leading Seafood Monger program as well as our quarterly seafood team leader meetings, our team gets educated in many areas,” he said.
