Seafood is starting to make its way onto different parts of the menu as companies and restaurants trial new avenues for enticing consumers into eating convenient options.
Food trends in snacking have, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, been shifting toward healthier options in light of work-life balance and consumer habits being upended by a sudden societal scramble pertaining to where people work and eat. A big part of that migration has seen more people looking for healthier snacks as they settle into a new work-from-home lifestyle.
Research by FMCG Gurus in early 2021 showed that 63 percent of consumers felt that the pandemic had made them more conscious about their overall health. At the same time, the data indicated many consumers were also eating more snacks, more frequently.
Technomic data found that three-quarters of surveyed consumers were eating seafood either at home or away from home at least once a month, and 46 percent have been having it weekly. IRI reported that dollar sales of retail foods positioned for snacking are up 9.5 percent, while foods catering to at-home social occasions grew 8 percent.
While the pandemic changed consumer habits suddenly and drastically, the snacking trend is nothing new – something High Liner Foods and the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers are well aware of. The two partnered on High Liner’s Buffalo Spiced Alaska Wild Wings product, which was specifically created with snacking in mind by taking a familiar nosh item and giving it a seafood form.
High Liner President and CEO Rodd Hepponstall said that the company’s positive results in 2020 were partly a result of its renewed focus on snacking.
“Our snacking products are helping to show consumers how to turn to seafood for any number of eating occasions,” Hepponstall said.
Getting seafood into other meal timeframes is likely key to expanding consumption. IRI data indicates only 36 percent of consumers eat seafood at lunch, and just 6 percent eat it at breakfast.
Other companies are also capitalizing on a renewed focus on snacking with new products and appetizers. Ready Seafood recently released its new Lobster Grilled Cheese appetizers, focusing squarely on consumers looking to snack. The product, initially launching in Giant Eagle grocery stores, is made with fresh claw and knuckle lobster meat.
“Our product-development team has been working on multiple value-added concepts for a little over a year now,” Ready Seafood Director of Business Development Jack Lombard told SeafoodSource when the product launched. “We saw an immediate opportunity in the marketplace for a convenient and reasonably-priced frozen appetizer.”
Lombard said the company plans to introduce even more value-added products over the next several years.
The snacking trend has been a big source of innovation, Tampa Maid Foods Director of Marketing Jenny Doan told SeafoodSource, helping to combat food boredom as consumers get tired of having the same meals at home or from delivery. That trend led the company to introduce new flavors and new snacks, such as Buffalo Shrimp, Crunchy Shrimp Bites, Pimento Cheese Bites, and Krab Bites.
Pacific Seafood, too, has been focusing on snacks and apps, having recently launched its Tidal Tots, a take on the classic tater tot. The product is made with sustainable cod or salmon, potatoes, and seasoning, and has been a hit with both adults and kids, according to Pacific Vice President of Marketing and Development Bill Hueffner.
The snacking frenzy is also being recognized by restaurants. Outback Steakhouse recently launched a new “Bloomin’ Shrimp” appetizer, based on the company’s well-known “Bloomin’ Onion.” Utilizing a lot of the same flavors, the new shrimp product is made of hand-breaded, bite-sized shrimp that are fried and then drizzled and served with Outback’s spicy bloom sauce.
Restaurants and seafood companies alike have also had to tackle the changes in consumption habits by creating new takeout friendly products. Last year, Performance Food Group Vice President of Procurement Mike Seidel told SeafoodSource that as things shifted to takeout in the initial days of the pandemic, innovations like new coatings to allow seafood to hold up to the delivery environment were likely coming – a prediction that proved true.
“With the preponderance of take-out/to-go food from restaurants, seafood that travels well and replicates an in-dining experience is important to consumers,” Doan said.
Doan said that Tampa Maid fast-tracked the creation of a coating method that allows seafood to survive the takeout container.
“As a solution for foods that hold up well in to-go packaging, Tampa Maid created a proprietary coating system, Crunch Keeper, that keeps foods crunchier and crispier longer,” Doan said. “We launched several shrimp and calamari products with the Crunch Keeper coating system so that restaurants can offer breaded seafood that holds up better and maintains its crunchiness.”
Photo courtesy of Pacific Seafood
