A select Wegmans Food Markets’ stores are offering new cook-in-package seafood dinners ahead of a chain-wide launch early next year.
Eleven stores throughout Rochester, New York, U.S.A.-based Wegmans’ market areas are selling chef-developed seafood entrées, sold frozen and ready-to-cook in oven-safe packaging, the Niagara Gazette reported.
The supermarket chain plans to roll out the seafood dinners chain-wide in January.
“We hear from customers all the time that they’d like to add more seafood to their diets but aren’t sure how to cook it or don’t find its shelf life flexible enough in a weekly meal plan,” Mark Fromm, Wegman’s seafood category manager, told Niagara Gazette. “Seafood entrées in oven-safe packaging are a simple solution. They can be kept on hand in the freezer, they’re nearly effortless to make, and the taste and texture are consistently outstanding.”
A Wegmans spokesperson declined to comment on the new seafood dinners when contacted by SeafoodSource.
The chain already sells numerous refrigerated pre-made seafood meals that are ready to be taken home to cook, such as Low Country Boil Steampot, Seasoned Bronzini, and Signature Crabcakes.
The new line is frozen and vacuum-packed, with no preparation needed before cooking in the oven.
“Not only does the packaging eliminate prep work, it also preserves flavors and speeds up cooking times. Each item goes from the freezer to the dinner plate in 40 minutes or less. Cooked right in the package, the entrées don’t even create a fishy odor in the house,” the Niagara Gazette said.
Priced at around USD 10 (EUR 8.72) per serving, the six dinners include: Shrimp Scampi; Salmon Teriyaki; Mediterranean Cod with artichokes, tomatoes, and capers in a lemon butter sauce; Scallop Chowder, a clam chowder base with scallops, onions, carrots, and celery; Seafood Bouillabaisse; and Garlic Broth Seafood Medley with mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp, calamari, and potatoes in lemon garlic clam broth.
