A Spanish food company is bringing a series of ready-to-eat seafood meals to grocery stores in America.
Conservas Garavilla is distributing its Salad Bowls line, popular in Europe, into the United States via its new Florida-based subsidiary, Isabel North America.
The company is introducing three products: Vegetable medley, tuna salad with vegetables and pasta salad with chunk light tuna. The tuna comes from actual tuna loin, with no mixed chunks or vegetable broth.
“One of the things we like to do is open a can of our tuna and then open a competitor’s,” said Sean Crotty, Isabel North America vice-president and general manager. “We flip them upside down on a plate. The other comes out as a lump of tuna pieces and ours comes out as one big piece. The tuna looks different. It doesn’t have the smell that’s associated with canned tuna. It’s milder. The taste and texture is very moist and mild.”
The Salad Bowls are already in Harris-Teeter and other independent grocers. The company plans to introduce the products in stores nationwide, along with other signature products such as sardines, squid pieces and mussels.
“The heritage of our brand is important. We are a 125-year-old company,” Crotty said. “Although we’re new to the U.S., we’ve been a leader in the world market for many years.”
