Handy | Key West Shrimp Burger
Salisbury, Maryland-based seafood supplier Handy is celebrating 125 years in business like any dedicated innovator does – with the launch of several new products.
In March 2019, timed with Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Massachusetts, Handy launched its frozen Key West Shrimp Burger, a product developed at the request of a club store chain, which was seeking a burger made with shrimp from the United States. The burgers are available branded or as private label, Terrence Conway, executive chairman of Handy, told SeafoodSource in March.
“We made a very good burger with whole shrimp - not just fragments - which provides a much better taste and texture,” Conway said.
In addition to the Key West Shrimp Burger, Handy also aimed to launch two new frozen appetizers in 2019: Nashville Hot Shrimp and Togarashi Shrimp. The Nashville Hot Shrimp app includes shrimp dipped in a cayenne-infused buttermilk batter with crunchy panko breading, and the Togarashi Shrimp is breaded and coated in a traditional Togarashi Japanese spice blend. Both 10-ounce apps are geared toward a wide range of demographic groups, Conway said.
“People want flavor in their seafood and these two products deliver that. We are seeing demand from retailers [for this type of product]," he told SeafoodSource.
Handy’s Foodservice Crab Cake Kit was also debuted this year, after a successful launch of the company’s Crab Cake Kit for consumers in 2018 at retail. Made with slightly more than 50 percent fresh crab meat, the Foodservice Crab Cake Kits are geared for use in retail deli sections and for custom orders, according to Conway. Cases of the kits include two, one-pound cans of Crab Cake Combo, two crab cake sauce packets, and two seasoning mix packets.
Grocery stores and the Handy’s website sell the company’s Handy’s Crab Cake Kits, which include an eight-ounce crab meat blend, special sauce, and dry seasoning mix. Each kit unit makes four crab cakes or 24 mini crab cakes.
“Handy created a crab cake kit so you can easily make Maryland-style crab cakes in your own kitchen,” the supplier said on its website.
Entrants in Handy’s Power Foods range – such as Salmon Power Burgers and Salmon Power Bites – have proven popular as plant-based diets have increased in prominence, Marketing Director Maureen Johnson told SeafoodSource.
“Traditional value-added seafood typically only meets the convenience factor, but lacks any sort of plant-based nutrition,” she said.
Photo courtesy of Handy
