Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods has reached a marketing and distribution agreement with Northern Wind, one of the largest scallop producers in the United States.
New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Northern Wind processes more than 15 million pounds of scallops annually, sourced from procurement and supply contracts with 62 vessels fishing approximately 20 percent of the U.S. North Atlantic scallop quota.
“Through this new partnership, we will build on the leadership position that Northern Wind has developed over the past 30 years, to the benefit of all customers,” Northern Wind Chairman Ken Melanson said in a press release.
California-based Chicken of the Sea – one of the largest seafood companies in North America, with more than USD 1.28 billion (EUR 1.21 billion) in sales in 2015 – is in turn owned by Thai Union Group, among the biggest seafood companies in the world. It sells tuna and several other seafood varieties under numerous brand names, including Chicken of the Sea, Asian Gold, Xcellent, Van Camps, Genova, Pacific Pearl and Ace of Diamonds.
“We are excited about the opportunity to combine Northern Wind’s expertise and sustainability footprint with our distribution network,” COSFF CEO Bryan Rosenberg said. “The two companies are well positioned to further develop this important category.”
Northern Wind Co-CEO George Kouri said his company looked forward to seeing the rewards of marketing its scallops through Chicken of the Sea’s distribution channels.
“This association should benefit our customer partners as we maximize our strengths across all trade channels,” Kouri said.
