Scott & Jon’s | Shrimp Ramen Noodle Bowl
Auburn, Maine-based seafood supplier Scott & Jon’s knows the kind of big changes that can happen over a small amount of time.
In two years, the company has seen its products being sold in major supermarkets across the United States, including in Target stores. In that timeframe, it has also received considerable capital backing from Arbel Growth Partners, which invested USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.2 million) in the firm in May 2018. Additionally, the business underwent a name change, from Cheating Gourmet to Scott & Jon’s, after its Co-Owners Scott and Jon Demers.
These big developments, paired with numerous product innovations, have generated significant notoriety for the supplier, which utilizes Best Aquaculture Practice’s (BAP)-certified shrimp in its range of frozen seafood meals. A lot of buzz surrounded the business at the 2019 Seafood Expo North America event in Boston, Massachusetts, in March, where its Shrimp Ramen Noodle Bowl was a finalist for “Best New Retail Product” at the expo’s Seafood Excellence Awards. At the expo, Scott & Jon’s also rolled out four new pasta and noodle bowls: Shrimp Scampi Pasta, Shrimp Alfredo Pasta, Shrimp Ramen Noodle, and Spicy Shrimp Ramen Noodle.
“Our Shrimp Scampi Pasta bowl has been enormously successful since its launch. We attribute some of that success to the fact that it’s so delicious, but also a very popular and familiar way to enjoy shrimp,” Scott Demers, co-founder and co-president, told SeafoodSource in June 2019.
“As two brothers growing up in the heart of Maine, we learned that the best way to feed a hunger for all that life has to offer was to make the most of land and sea. Our lives were fueled by seafood dishes,” he added.
Several factors contributed to the creation of Scott & Jon’s growing product portfolio, Demers recently revealed to SeafoodSource.
“Ultimately, initially, we wanted to create really high quality, easy meals that utilize seafood as a protein because we’re from Maine and we love seafood,” he explained.
Convenient, easy-to-prepare meals were seen by the company as a great way to engage more consumers with the seafood category.
“One of the issues with seafood is, a lot of people just aren’t sure how to prepare it, and we wanted to provide something really convenient and user friendly that took preparation out of your hands,” Demers said.
Scott & Jon’s frozen seafood meal line can be microwaved, are all under 300 calories, and use phosphate-free shrimp, Demers said. The products represent a marriage of premium quality with ultra-convenience and health, establishing them as meals the brothers themselves vehemently enjoy.
“We created something that we initially wanted to enjoy for ourselves, and then we saw a market for it,” Demers said. “Jon and I both like to eat healthier and lead active lives, and we wanted our products to reflect that and be available for people that like to live the same way.”
The flavors celebrated in Scott & Jon’s product portfolio are identifiable and desirable to consumers – a deliberate aim, Demers confirmed.
“For us, we’re delivering on really identifiable flavors for people. Taking the work right out of it,” he said.
“The innovation has always come directly from Jon and I. It started initially with, we just didn’t have the resources to outsource it,” he added. “Now, it’s just a passion of ours. We want to make really identifiable flavors for people, nothing that’s too exotic.”
When questioned about Scott & Jon’s innovation process, Demers noted how the brothers’ roots have informed the company’s product creations.
“Being from Maine, and having made a lot of seafood in our lives, being really familiar with it, that plays a role,” Demers said. “You grow up with it, you’re always eating lobster, there’s seafood restaurants everywhere. We also have access to really great seafood.”
“We’re used to working with the raw material, so for us it’s just doing what we’ve always done in the past,” he said. “When we re-branded earlier this year, we wanted to rebrand as Scoot and Jon’s, we’re two brothers from Maine.”
So far, in 2019, the company has seen its Shrimp Scampi Pasta and Shrimp Alfredo Pasta really resonating across North American markets, Demers said. Those products represent the evolution of Scott & Jon’s bowls, incorporating pasta instead of just rice as a base.
Photo courtesy of Scott & Jon’s
