Promoting noodles made out of Alaska pollock and introducing chefs at upscale restaurants to innovative preparations of the fish will be a focus of a marketing campaign announced this month by the industry’s trade organization.
The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) said it will fund four new marketing and consumer awareness projects in North America for USD 330,000 (EUR 287,000). Trident Seafoods is heading up three of the projects, while True North Seafoods is leading one of the sales efforts.
New membership in GAPP has resulted in additional USD 10 million (EUR 8.7 million) in funding for the organization over the next three years, and the organization identified North America, Germany, and Japan as its primary target markets for 2019.
“To maximize the industry’s investment in GAPP, we are bringing wild Alaska pollock to new markets in new and exciting ways. We can double our impact through partnerships … the dollars go further,” GAPP CEO Craig Morris told SeafoodSource.
The programs funded in the first round of funding help to bring new consumers to wild Alaska pollock, Morris said.
"Whether they are seeking a fish product or not, we want to put pollock in front of them, [to] create demand for this resource,” he said.
As part of the new funding via GAPP’s North American Partnerships program, Seattle, Washington-based Trident Seafoods will market its gluten-free, pollock-based Protein Noodles to club stores. At the Alaska Symphony of Seafood competition last November, the product won first place in the retail category and was elected winner of the Seattle People’s Choice award.
“Everybody wants to try the noodles – they are outstanding. You would never know that the raw material is wild Alaska pollock,” Morris said. “It’s a brand-new market for wild Alaska pollock, especially our surimi blocks.”
The product fits perfectly into many consumers’ current low-carb lifestyles, such as the Keto diet, he added.
“The funding from this program enables Trident to stretch its marketing dollars even further, to reach more people, in more places, more often and to help us introduce innovative new products like our all new Protein Noodles made with wild Alaska pollock to consumers,” Trident Seafoods CEO Joe Bundrant said in a press release.
Trident will also lead a publicity campaign to introduce wild Alaska pollock to white tablecloth restaurants, a segment of the foodservice sector in which pollock currently has little penetration, according to GAPP. The campaign will initially target seven major U.S. markets. With the help of celebrity chef Oberon Sinclair, who helped to boost the profile of kale, Trident will introduce chefs at white tablecloth restaurants to innovative Alaska pollock dishes.
“I’m really excited about some of the items that are going to be menued, such a whole-fish preparation of pollock,” Morris said. “We are looking bring pollock to events, where we plate our product and show it from a foodie point-of-view. Then, we will tell the story behind the product.”
Trident will also market its Alaska Pollock Burgers in club stores in North America.
“Another objective of GAPP is to get in front of as many different consumers as possible. Too many industries try to get protein on the center of the plate, but millennials look at protein as an ingredient,” Morris said. “Burgers are another way to deliver this perfect protein in a way that consumers can relate to.”
GAPP will also provide matching funds for a new project with True North Seafood to introduce IQF single-serve Alaska pollock fillets in grocery stores across North America.
“They fit into our goal for the program of delivering pollock in a different format. Smaller portion sizes will work really well at the consumer level,” Morris said.
Accompanying brochures and on-pack messages will detail the mild taste and versatility of wild Alaska pollock, Andrew Young, senior vice president of global sales and marketing at True North Seafood, said in the release.
“We feel there is a lot of potential for this species to be more top-of-mind for chefs and consumers and we want to play a role in getting more North American consumers to try this sustainably sourced, delicious fish,” Young said.
GAPP also has a major marketing push planned for Japan and Germany this year, and is currently reviewing programs to fund. In October, GAPP led a program with the Japanese surimi seafood industry aimed at communicating the origin and quality of kamaboko (a type of cured surimi) products made with wild Alaska pollock.
The funding awards for Trident and True North represent the first of three rounds of funding under GAPP’s new North American Partnership Program. Subsequent funding rounds and GAPP partnerships will be announced later this year, following two separate requests for proposals.
Photo courtesy of Trident Seafoods
