Nearing the end of the wild salmon and summer grilling seasons, U.S. supermarkets are ramping up their seafood promotions during the Labor Day weekend. Many are holding four-day seafood sales and outdoor grilling events to move a volume of salmon, lobster, and other seafood.
On 31 August and 1 September, Dayton, Ohio-based Dorothy Lane Market is holding its annual Labor Day Sidewalk Coho Salmon sale. “This is the time for shoppers to enjoy the season. Coho will be gone in a couple of weeks. Then we will have a couple more weeks of Columbia River king salmon, but then it will pretty much come to end, except for troll-caught fish,” Jack Gridley, meat and seafood director for DLM, told SeafoodSource.
At its sidewalk sale, DLM seafood staff are grilling and sampling whole Coho salmon for shoppers. “We are showing people how to grill whole fish. If you want to cook a whole fish, it is fairly easy,” Gridley said. In addition, DLM is retailing whole Coho salmon for USD 9.99 (EUR 7.56) a pound (for 5-7 pounds, on average) outside its store on ice.
Likewise, Highland Park, Ill.-based Sunset Foods, which operates five stores, is going all out with a five-day “Maine Event” sale. From 29 August through 2 September, Sunset is flying in fresh whole Maine lobsters daily and selling them live or cooked for USD 10.99 (EUR 8.32) a pound.
In addition to the Maine lobster sale, Sunset is promoting Columbia River king salmon fillets for USD 17.98 (EUR 13.61) a pound. “Columbia River king salmon is recognized as some of the best salmon in the world. With an oil content as high as 22 percent, it even outranks its popular cousin from the Alaskan Copper River,” Sunset’s weekly ad stated.
Other supermarket chains are also featuring fish for grilling, including swordfish steaks. In its Colorado stores, Safeway is promoting previously frozen swordfish steaks for USD 9.99 a pound. Landover, Md.-based Giant Food is also running specials on swordfish steaks for USD 8.99 (EUR 6.80) a pound and wild Yellowfin tuna steaks for USD 8.99 a pound.
Giant Food is also promoting jumbo snow crab clusters for USD 6.99 (EUR 5.29) a pound.
