Salmon Brands of Oslo, Norway won the top prize in the 15th annual Seafood Prix d’Elite new-products competition at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. The company’s ready-to-eat sashimi kit was selected from a field of 37 finalists.
Salmaraw, 90 grams of fresh salmon sashimi with ponzu sauce, sesame seeds and a specially designed eating utensil, won the top award for best new retail product. It is presented in an airtight and leak-proof pack that displays and preserves the salmon. The judges said the product was very well conceived and executed from start to finish.
At the judges’ discretion, however, no award was given for best new foodservice product. Although the judges noted some positive aspects of the products entered in the category, they felt that many entrants provided incomplete information, making it impossible to choose an overall winner in the category.
The judges did hand out five special awards, with Salmaraw also earning special honors for originality. Its long tray is unique and elegant, the judges said, yet still allows the consumer to eat the product directly from the package. This combination makes it well positioned for consumers who are looking for healthy take-away meals.
The special prize for health and nutrition was awarded to Marine Harvest of Brugge, Belgium, for its Duo Norvégien au Four, a combination of cod wrapped in thin slice of salmon. It is packed in an oven-ready aluminum tray, which gives the consumer an easy way to serve an elegant seafood preparation at home.
The Big Prawn Company of Melton Constable, England, was awarded the special award for convenience for its product Seafood Rarebit. A seafood take on a classic Welsh dish, the frozen retail product has two pastry cases filled with king prawns and topped with a sauce of English cheddar cheese, mustard and spices. The topping melts down over the prawns and into the pastry during cooking. Perfect for a light lunch or part of a main meal, the product offers consumers a new, easy way to enjoy seafood.
The Big Prawn Company also won a special award for retail packaging for 2 Crayfish Thermidor Bakes, a product designed for special holiday occasions. It features twin ramekins filled with crayfish tails in a creamy thermidor sauce flavored with white wine, shallots and mustard, topped with a ciabatta Grand Padano cheese breadcrumb. The elegant package is designed with full-color photos of the prepared dish and a clear window to see the ramekins, which are covered with clear plastic domes. The package provides complete information for the consumer on nutrition, ingredients, product origin, preparation and package disposal.
Lastly, Rockabill Shellfish Limited of Balbriggan, Ireland, was presented with the Seafood Prix d’Elite special award for Seafood Product Line for its “Something Fishy” line of seafood infused butters. Offered in Sweet Onion, Dulse and Asian Infusion flavors, the products combine Irish butter with freeze-dried and milled seafood protein, dried seaweed and seasonings. The result is a culinary butter that provides the savory deliciousness of “umami” to both enhance and complete the flavors of prepared dishes. The products can be used to flavor sauces, finish risottos, pastas and rice dishes, or to spread over seafood before or after cooking.
The winners of the 2015 Seafood Prix d’Elite were chosen from a field of 37 finalists representing 11 countries. The winners and finalists are on display at Hall 11, Stand 2501 at Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global, which runs through Thursday.
The judges for the 2015 Seafood Prix d’Elite new products competition were Debby Verheyen (chairperson), seafood product expert for Delhaize Supermarkets in Belgium; Thibault Faucon, supply chain manager for Sodexo in Luxemburg; Filip Keersmaekers, seafood category manager for Makro and Metro Cash & Carry in Belgium; Ian Nottage, chef director with Reynold’s Catering Supply in the UK; and Dominique Fenech, national director of seafood purchasing for Monoprix in France. Seafood Prix d’Elite finalists were judged on taste and overall eating experience, packaging, marketability, convenience, nutritional value and originality. The judges’ scores were verified by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young.
