The 2012 Seafood Excellence Awards new product competition winners were announced at the International Boston Seafood Show on Sunday. Grieg Seafood Hjaltland won the retail award for its WildWaters Gravadlax Limoncello, and Dish Hospitality’s Oriental Shrimp Nest took home the foodservice award.
Winners were selected from a group of 10 finalists during a live judging by a panel of seafood buyers from retail and foodservice. This year’s judges were Butch Vidrine, senior manager of seafood for Sysco; Eric Caron, research and development chef for Uno’s Chicago Grill; and Tony Ruccio, director of seafood merchandising for King’s Super Markets.
Finalists were previously selected through a screening of products participating in the 2012 International Boston Seafood Show New Product Showcase.
Co-located with Seafood Processing America, the International Boston Seafood Show is North America’s largest seafood trade event, and the 2012 show is the biggest in its 30-plus year history.
The Seafood Excellence Awards and Seafood Prix d’Elite are organized by Diversified Business Communications of Portland, Maine, which also produces the European Seafood Exposition, Asian Seafood Exposition and Seafood Barcelona and publishes SeafoodSource.com and SeaFood Business magazine.
