As consumers continue to demand value-added seafood meals, Pescanova USA is launching several new ready-to-cook seafood products for retail at Seafood Expo North America, taking place 12 to 14 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
The Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.A.-based firm, owned by Redondela, Pontevedra, Spain-based Nueva Pescanova, is launching frozen Shrimp Skillet Meals and Shrimp Skewers at the expo, and will be serving them, along with its Protein Pasta and Toss & Serve Shrimp at Booth #1021.
“Our primary mission is to provide consumers with choices that are not only healthy, convenient, and restaurant-quality, but made with products that are responsibly sourced,” Pescanova President and CEO Chris Maze told SeafoodSource. “Today’s consumer demands go beyond what is on the plate. They care about the supply chain from shore to shelf. That’s where Pescanova’s vertical integration allows us to guarantee giving consumers what they are demanding.”
Americans’ increasing interest in value-added seafood products since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic help boost Pescanova USA’s value-added retail product sales 64 percent for the year ending March 2023. Pescanova USA’s overall sales rose 18 percent in the recently-ended fiscal year, Maze said.
“The consumers are in the driver’s seat and we are fortunate to have the story and the product mix to meet their demands: high-quality, healthy protein responsibly produced from shore to shelf,” Maze said.
Most of Pescanova’s seafood ingredients – including white shrimp, Chilean seabass, Argentine red shrimp, Cape hake, and mahi – are sourced from its own fishing vessels and farms.
“We are vertically integrated with 60 fishing vessels, nearly 20,000 acres of shrimp farms, and 17 processing facilities,” Maze said.
For consumers looking for a complete meal kit, Pescanova is introducing a line of frozen Shrimp Skillet Meals that include responsibly sourced shrimp, vegetables, traditional pasta and chef-developed sauces. The three flavors include: Shrimp with Pesto, Broccoli and Linguini, Shrimp with Tomato Feta Sauce & Rotini, and Shrimp with Mediterranean-Style Scampi & Spaghetti.
And Pescanova is introducing a line of Shrimp Skewers featuring shrimp marinated in gourmet sauces including Garlic Butter, Sweet & Spicy, and Chipotle Barbecue Sauce.
“Perfect for summer grilling promotions, the frozen Shrimp Skewers come raw and cook up in less than 10 minutes,” Pescanova said.
Pescanova will also be exhibiting its Toss & Serve Shrimp, which was introduced in 2020 as part of the “Value-Added 2.0” strategy, conceived by Maze to introduce more innovative value-added products into its U.S. product lineup. The product features responsibly-sourced shrimp in a convenient, heat-and-serve format. The frozen, pre-sauced shrimp cooks in eight minutes. The line is available in three flavors: Shrimp with Salted Butter and Garlic Sauce, Shrimp with Citrus Herb Sauce and Shrimp with Chipotle Sea Salt Sauce.
Introduced in 2022, the company’s Protein Pasta is made from Marine Stewardship Council-certified Alaska pollock. It will soon be on the shelves of 100 Target Supercenter stores, and Performance Food Group will launch the pasta under its Empire’s Treasure brand this summer, according to Maze.
Nueva Pescanova launched a similar product in Europe around two years ago, Maze said.
“We saw an opportunity to leverage that experience to satisfy needs of the U.S. consumer,” Maze said. “Even though the original form of the product already existed in Europe, we spent over a year in product development adapting variations for the U.S. market.”
The gluten-free, low-carb pasta alternative “delivers the great taste and texture of traditional pasta with the naturally nutritious benefits of seafood,” Pescanova said. The fully-cooked pasta heats up in two minutes and contains 70 calories per serving. It is available in three flavors: Garlic Basil, Lemon Pepper and Tomato Basil. The supplier is also offering a plain version for foodservice.
The pollock for its Protein Pasta is supplied by American Seafood, which has “played an integral role in this project from the beginning and is a long-time supplier to Nueva Pescanova,” Maze said.
"We view them as a strategic partner that shares our values and commitment to sustainability and bringing a safe wholesome products to the consumer,” Maze said.
The pasta rollout is supported by the Genuine Alaska Pollack Producers’ (GAPP) Partnership program.
“We were very impressed with the real pasta taste and feel with Pescanova's product and thus GAPP was pleased to support them and feel this should be a very successful launch,” GAPP Director of Industry Relations, Partnerships, and Fishery Analysis Ron Rogness told SeafoodSource.
GAPP CEO Craig Morris said he’s been impressed with the creative uses seafood companies, including Pescanova USA, have found for Alaska pollock.
“It’s an amazing product that already has the flavoring added to it so you can just heat it in a skillet and eat it as as a side or, if you wish, throw in a protein of your choice to go with it to make it a center-of-the-plate item,” Morris said. "It is really positioned well as a low-carb option to all of the convenient heat-and-eat pasta dishes you already find in the grocery store. It also meets consumers’ desire for “frozen, great tasting foods that are easy and quick to prepare.”
Photo courtesy of Pescanova USA
