2:00: Met with Christian Nahan, VP of sales for Nautical Foods, another first-time exhibitor at the show. His company has been around since the early 1990s, manufacturing frozen prepared seafood products such as seafood sausage, burgers and crab cakes, from its New Jersey location.
Now, the company is looking to expand beyond its northeastern U.S. customer base, reaching out to national retailers and grocery chains with a new packaging scheme.
"We wanted to bring something different to the market that they don't normally see," he Nahan said.
The difference, he said, is his company keeps its recipes simple, without a lot of extra or artificial ingredients, and a packaging that eliminates the cardboard box, making them ideal both for the freezer case and the seafood counter.
Nahan hopes the new, recognizable packaging will help the product take off, and so far the response at the show has been encouraging.
"We've had incredible response," he said.
11:00: Did another video, this time with Show Director Liz Plizga. She told me that the show broke a company record this year, with over 1,000 exhibitors. The show had high attendance, which was expected, but Liz said there were fewer responses from the attendees. That wasn't because they had nothing good to say, but because they were too busy doing business to chat!
9:30: Checked out a machine made by Marel. We shot a video demonstrating the company's fish weighing device. Using rubber fish, the company demonstrated how the machine, using a conveyor belt, moves the fish while weighing it at the same time. The company, which recently received approval to sell it as a measuring device in the U.S., is marketing it to fishing companies, for their ships to use at dock to weigh the fish so they can get paid.
9:20: Met with representatives of QBag, a U.K.-based company which is exhibiting at the Boston show for the first time. They were showing off their product, an aluminum foil bag made for cooking seafood, or anything else, at high temperatures. It is similar to another product we did a video about on Sunday from Alaska Leader Seafood, but this one is made for grilling. Anyone can put any protein (or even fruits and vegetables) in the bag for easy cooking on the grill. QBag reps said the show has been a great place for them to show off their product.
