The Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) has appointed two new marketing committee co-chairs for the National Seafood Council Task Force Marketing Committee.
The task force was created after a concerted effort by the seafood industry to resurrect a national marketing effort for the U.S. seafood industry. SNP said a recent survey with industry stakeholders identified continued national support for an uptick in seafood promotional content surrounding seafood consumption, focusing on a unified message around health and sustainability.
SNP said Daryl Gormley, the current CEO of Rancho Cucamonga, California, U.S.A.-based seafood company Aquamar, along with Vnay Bedi, senior vice president at Tampa, Florida, U.S.A.-based Cox’s Seafood, will serve as the new co-chairs of the council’s marketing committee.
“Daryl Gormley and Vnay Bedi bring a dynamic combination of perspectives that reflect the full breadth of the seafood industry, encompassing both large and small companies, as well as domestic suppliers and global importers,” the company wrote in a release. “Their leadership will help ensure the National Seafood Council Task Force [NSCTF] is shaped by insights from across the supply chain and responsive to the evolving needs of consumers, retailers, and foodservice partners.”
Gormley has led Aquamar, one of the largest surimi producers in the U.S., since 2020. Gormley previously held managerial roles at Kraft Foods Group and Sara Lee Foods and started his career as an engineer with PepsiCo. He advanced to presidential roles at Grande Cheese Company, Weston Foods, and Wismettac Asian Foods before moving to Aquamar.
Bedi has served as vice president of Cox’s Seafood since June 2023 and is also on the board of the American Culinary Federation.
SNP Board Chair and H-E-B Vice President of Seafood Jason Driskill said that the two co-chairs will lead the marketing team's strategic vision while also representing “the diversity of our industry and the unity we need to move seafood forward.”
SNP said investments made by the council will be aimed at getting Americans to eat more seafood through recommendations for structure, direction, and strategy of a national campaign as determined by the marketing committee co-chairs.
SNP’s push to promote diversity is coupled with the nonprofit’s mission to address America’s public health crisis through education programs directed at incorporating seafood and omega-3 into more people’s diets, per USDA regulatory guidelines.
SNP added in the company release that additional updates and announcements will take place on 20 January at the Global Seafood Market Conference in Hollywood, Florida, U.S.A.
