SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood Company has launched a new frozen snack range targeting health- and convenience-focused customers.
The St. Simons Island, Georgia, U.S.A.-based supplier’s SeaPak On-the-Go Shrimp include shrimp and a dipping sauce and are now being sold at select Walmart and Kroger stores in the United States.
“Featuring a powerful punch of protein along with authentic shrimp cocktail experience, this menu favorite includes delicious shrimp and cocktail dipping sauce that, once thawed, is ready to eat,” Leslie Harris Thomas, marketing manager for SeaPak, told SeafoodSource.
The five-ounce packs retail for a suggested USD 4.99 (EUR 4.32) each. Flavors include SeaPak On-the-Go Shrimp & Cocktail Sauce and SeaPak On-the-Go Shrimp & Tartar Sauce.
SeaPak executives decided to launch the grab-and-go shrimp snacks because “convenient, healthy snacks and mealtime solutions that are both shareable and easy to grab-and-go are trending upward. This shift is most noticeable among young families, with millennial moms and dads seeking out seafood more often, prioritizing value, quality and taste, as well as more variety and options,” Harris Thomas said. “With awareness and interest in international tastes and new flavors becoming mainstream, the seafood shopper overall has become more adventurous in their seafood selections.”
To appeal to customers seeking more adventurous and ethnic flavors, SeaPak also added two soups to its SeaPak Selections line of full-flavored, lighter frozen seafood meals earlier this year. Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup and Shrimp Wonton Soup are the latest additions in the Selections line, which also includes Lemon Pepper Shrimp, Creamy Garlic Shrimp, Alaskan Salmon Burgers, and Maryland Style Crab Cakes.
“Inspired by on-trend, Asian-style flavors, these two new soups are the company’s first ever microwaveable soup solutions,” Harris Thomas said.
Select Walmart stores are carrying the soups, which range from a suggested retail price of USD 7.99 (EUR 6.92) to USD 9.99 (EUR 8.65) each.
“The convenient, one-step, microwavable seafood lunch and snack solutions are unique to the brand’s current Walmart offerings,” Harris Thomas said. “The new products are performing well among the retailer’s consumer base and will continue to be supported via the brand’s marketing activities and digital channels throughout the remainder of 2018 and 2019.”
Sales of existing and new SeaPak items are benefitting from the overall lift in frozen seafood sales. U.S. frozen seafood sales rose 2.3 percent to approximately USD 1.1 billion (EUR 952 million) for the 13 weeks ending 30 June, according to Nielsen.
Consumer demand for seafood is increasing, especially for “new options and for brands that offer an authentic sourcing and sustainability story,” Harris Thomas said. “The category as a whole is also seeing increased demand for products that are high in protein. Thanks in part to these shifting eating habits, SeaPak is experiencing the same upward trend in sales as frozen food overall.”
Harris Thomas affirmed the supplier’s sustainability measures, which includes a partnership with the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative that was announced earlier this year.
“We are firm believers in upholding and surpassing certification requirements, and we require that our procurement partners and suppliers also meet the highest social and environmental standards,” Harris Thomas said. She declined to reveal the company’s shrimp suppliers.
SeaPak plans to launch several other new products late this year and in early 2019.
