Surimi seafood marketer Trans-Ocean Products announced yesterday that it has signed a contract with Information Resources (IRI) to track its retail sales data.
Trans-Ocean says the Chicago company provides a more complete look at the refrigerated seafood category than its previous supplier, which provided sales data in only the surimi seafood category. With IRI, the Bellingham, Wash., company can now access sales data from product categories such as smoked salmon, canned crabmeat and seafood dips.
"As our Crab Classic brand has grown to be one of the best sellers in the entire refrigerated seafood category, it became essential that our category-management capabilities be expanded to include all products, not just surimi seafoods," says Larry Mulvey, Trans-Ocean's VP of business development. "It's a significant annual investment for Trans-Ocean but worthwhile because of all of the information it allows us with to share with our retail customers."
Trans-Ocean will use IRI's XleratePlus program to analyze the refrigerated seafoods category and advise retailers to optimize product assortment and shelf space allocation to drive shelf-stable seafood sales.
Trans-Ocean's Crab Classic holds a 35 percent share of the surimi seafood market, more than any other brand. Earlier this year, the company introduced a smoked salmon product line.
Owned by Maruha-Nichiro Holdings of Japan, Trans-Ocean operates three surimi block processing facilities in Alaska, two at-sea processing vessels and a surimi seafood processing facility in Bellingham.
