Supermarket Perimeter - February 2021 - 53

SPOTLIGHT

in the most humane and
environmentally friendly way,
Damato said.
The company is also able to
provide seafood to retail stores
that hits on the things customers
care about most, she added.
" Number one is quality. Our
products have no antibiotics,
artiﬁcial additives, or ﬁllers.
Number two, they're cleanly
sourced - our ﬁsh is 100%
traceable from source to shop.
And our ﬁsh is nutritional and
healthy - a heathy protein
chock full of antioxidants and
omega-3s. "

VALUE-ADDED
SEAFOOD
by Andy Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C.-BASED
BLUE CIRCLE FOODS has high
hopes for its value-added frozen
portions and smoked seafood
products in 2021, said Nina
Damato, the company's product
director.
Blue Circle has been able to
source additional species to add
to its frozen line, she added. In
late 2020 it added a sustainable
vannamei shrimp from Ecuador
to its mix, rounding out a line
that also includes yellowﬁn tuna,
Atlantic salmon, sockeye salmon
and Atlantic cod.
Blue Circle's value-added
smoked products include hot
smoked pepper and thick cut
cold smoked salmon.
Blue Circle deﬁnes valueadded as seafood that has
already largely been prepared
(ﬁlleted, prepped, frozen, smoked,
seasoned, etc.) so that the
customer has less to worry about
on their end, said David Pilat,
the company's vice president of
product development.
" We're starting to take this
more literally as more and more
customers are eating at home

- the question we're looking to
answer now is how can we best
prepare our food even more
so that cooking a meal is even
easier, " Pilat said. " We have a lot
of exciting ready-to-cook/eat
products in the pipeline. "
Blue Circle's smoked salmon
is one of its value-added best
sellers, both in stores and online.
Customers say they love the
taste, which is rich and ﬂavorful,
and the fact that Blue Circle
doesn't treat its salmon with
antibiotics or added hormones,
Damato said.
" We keep the ingredient list
clean and simple. No artiﬁcial
preservatives or sugar - just
salmon, smoke and salt. "
Blue Circle uses responsible
sourcing methods to ensure
that its ﬁsh are raised or ﬁshed

A higher proﬁle for
commissaries
Blue Circle's value-added
products are increasingly ﬁnding
homes in commissaries, central
kitchens and other offsite
facilities that supply value-added
and other foods to retail grocers.
" We're looking to expand in this
area as we continue to develop
new products that keep safety
top of mind, " Damato said. " We
work closely with our customers
to create products as close to
ﬁnished as possible. This helps
maintain a clean supply chain by
reducing the number of times the
product has to be manipulated -
something even more important
now than it was even just a
year ago. "
Blue Circle recently conducted
a survey asking consumers what

their primary concerns are when
it comes to purchasing seafood.
They told the company that
price, quality and sustainability
are their top concerns. It's Blue
Circle's goal, Damato said, to
prove to consumers that it's
possible to get quality, delicious
seafood at competitive prices
that also helps ensure the
health and longevity of the
environment.
" Consumers don't need to
compromise when it comes to
purchasing seafood, and we
hope to show that Blue Circle is a
trusted vendor to deliver on these
priorities, " she said.
When it comes to
differentiating itself from the
competition, Blue Circle is
positioning itself as " the modern
choice when it comes to
purchasing ﬁsh, " Damato said.
The company offers ecommerce
options, innovative products
and a promise to provide the
most delicious seafood in the
most responsible ways possible,
she said.
" We are really looking forward
to 2021. We have an exciting
product roadmap that keeps
those customer concerns top of
mind, focusing on prepared food
and new ﬂavors, " Damato said. " In
an evolving world in which health
and accessibility have become
paramount concerns, Blue Circle
is dedicated to developing products for the modern shopper. "

Scallops au gratin
BLUE CIRCLE, LABRADOR GEM

St. John's, Newfoundland-based Labrador Gem Seafoods is now shipping its Canadian wild-caught,
half-shell scallops in a value-added pack featuring bread crumbs and cheese. The oven-ready pack
is ready in just three or four minutes and is a great appetizer for catering, foodservice or at home,
according to Labrador Gem.
" Our bay and sea scallops are caught in the pristine, cold North Atlantic and brought live to our
factory where they are hand cleaned and hand washed in sea water before they are frozen individually
to -20 Celsius to maintain a 24 month shelf live, " according to the company.

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FEBRUARY 2021 - 53

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Supermarket Perimeter - February 2021

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