Seafood Business articles from July 2000

Seafood Business archives from July 2000

`Surfing' for seafood.(online grocers now offering seafood)
July 1, 2000... E-retailers compete with perishables Online grocery retailers rang up a paltry $185 million in sales last year. With a typical dotcom grocer pulling roughly 2 percent of gross sales from seafood, those few million dollars barely register an...

Seafood restaurants coping with safety advisories on menus.
July 1, 2000... NRA, restaurateurs question need for raw seafood warnings More restaurants are being required to warn consumers about the potential health risks of eating raw seafood, but some argue that these warnings can mislead consumers and hurt sales....

Global Food Exchange purchases Gloucester's display auction.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Daily online seafood auction will be going live later this summer Global Food Exchange hopes to boost its annual online seafood sales by $20 million with its acquisition last month of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction. The...

ConAgra acquires Int'l Home Foods.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Food giant ConAgra has agreed to acquire International Home Foods, owner of Bumble Bee Seafoods, for $1.6 billion, plus assumption of $1.3 billion in debt, creating a company with $28 billion in annual sales. "It's a good move for ConAgra,...

Shrimp virus strikes Panama.(Shrimp industry in Panama, Ecuador, and Mexico devastated by virus)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Add Panama to the list of Latin American countries battling the white-spot virus, a disease that can kill infected shrimp within two to three days. The country's first-quarter shrimp-export earnings fell 75 percent, to $5.38 million,...

Lobster pulled from `avoid' list.(Monterey Bay Aquarium removes cautions from seafood guide)
July 1, 2000... Monterey Bay Aquarium, which publishes a seafood guide for consumers called "Seafood Watch," has changed its classification of American lobster from "avoid" to "proceed with caution." Industry representatives, including two Maine...

Red Lobster sales climb 13%.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Darden Restaurants reported record earnings of $1.31 -- a 36 percent increase -- per diluted share for the fiscal year that ended May 28. Annual sales increased 7 percent to $3.7 billion for Darden, the owner of the 654-restaurant Red...

Claw Island goes on the block.(Portland Shellfish Co. looking to acquire)(Claw Island brand of whole cooked lobsters after)(Resource Trading liquidated operations)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Future ownership of the Claw Island brand of whole cooked lobsters remained in question as Resource Trading, a Portland, Maine, lobster processor and New England's largest shrimp processor, was liquidating its operations at press time. ...

ASI seeking new investors.(Alaska Seafood International looking for new investors after Central Investment Holding Co., pulls out investment)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... A handful of potential investors in Alaska Seafood International have come forward to replace the $50 million investment made by Central Investment Holding Co., a Taiwanese company pulling out of the deal for political reasons. But the...

Facts & figures.(seafood industry statistics)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... 4.2 Volume of frozen cod fillets imported from China during the first quarter of this year, in millions of pounds. 16.1 Volume of tilapia imported from March 1999 to March 2000, in millions of pounds. 41 Number of...

Browne Trading Co. sole U.S. supplier of Iranian caviar.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Maine-based company lands the coveted Ramsar brand For the first time in more than two decades, Iranian caviar, hailed as the world's finest, is available in the United States. Browne Trading Co. of Portland, Maine, which supplies fresh...

Seafood Month moves to June.
July 1, 2000... Promotion failed to boost seafood sales in its October slat Mark your calendars. In 2001, National Seafood Month will be June. For more than four decades, October has been known as National Seafood Month. But since last year, the...

La. oysters feted in new campaign.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Promotion highlights famous "oyster lovers" The Louisiana Oyster Task Force is depicting famous historical figures as oyster lovers to promote the shellfish and herald its entry onto the Top 10 list of seafoods consumed in 1998. The...

@.com.(online services)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The World Group, founded in 1978, offers integrated refrigerated/frozen logistics services through eight member companies with global expertise and facilities in major U.S. ports. Locate them all with a single click at www.theworldgroup.com....

EFresh and Freshnex join list of online seafood b-to-b's.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Two more dotcoms look to streamline perishables supply chain Add two more companies to the list of seafood-related dotcoms to watch: Both efresh.com and Freshnex.com are working to streamline the seafood supply chain. EFresh.com of...

StarKist is kicking the can.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Tuna giant takes its user-friendly foodservice pouch to retail StarKist will put pouched tuna on supermarket shelves in October, making it the first of the big three tuna companies to offer consumers a packaging alternative to canned tuna....

Trans-Ocean acquiring Kyotaru.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Consolidation to boost market and product line Surimi processor Trans-Ocean Products plans to boost its presence in the U.S. surimi market by purchasing private-label surimi processor Kyotaru Oregon. The acquisition is expected to...

Biz briefs ...(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The Maryland Department of Agriculture's Seafood Marketing Program is calling for entries in its $1,000 National Oyster Cook-Off scheduled for Oct. 21 in Leonardtown, Md.... Scanvaegt, headquartered in Denmark, has established a subsidiary in...

American Seafood Association forms to oppose REAP.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Members unite against NFI's mandatory assessment program A group of seafood companies opposing the National Fisheries Institute's proposed resource enhancement and access (REAP) program has formed a new trade group called the American...

Conway buys back John T. Handy.(Terrence Conway)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Former owner reacquires company from Japanese firm Terrence Conway, owner of John T. Handy from 1981 to 1988, has regained ownership of the Crisfield, Md., softshell-crab processor. Conway reacquired the company from Taiyo Oil Co. of...

Landry's plans $21M complex.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Restaurant will feature a 200,000-gallon aquarium The city of Houston has given Landry's Restaurants the go-ahead to construct a $21 million aquatic-themed dining and amusement complex. Featuring a 400-seat restaurant, 200,000-gallon...

Judge asks NMFS, Greenpeace to settle their lawsuit.(Greenpeace wants National Marine Fisheries Service to protect Stellar sea lion)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Environmentalists want trawling halted in critical sea lion habitat A U.S. District Court judge in Seattle may decide this month to further restrict trawling in areas of the North Pacific. At stake is pollock, Alaska's most valuable...

Alaska processors struggling to lure seasonal workers.(seafood companies team up with state Department of Labor)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Some companies are recruiting help from as far away as Arizona In the past two years, it's become more difficult to lure workers to fish processing plants in Alaska. In Bristol Bay, for instance, salmon processing facilities are currently...

Seafood essentials for the cook.(Brief Article)(Review)
July 1, 2000... When your customers ask how to prepare today's catch, "The Essential Seafood Cookbook" can help you help them. Recently published in the United States by Whitecap Books, the cookbook is a comprehensive, illustrated collection of seafood...

ASMI promotes canned salmon.(Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... "1,2,3! Easy as CAN be" slogan targets repeat sales The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute hopes to boost repeat sales of canned salmon with its "1, 2, 3! Easy as CAN be" promotional campaign, which will launch in retail stores nationwide...

Shrimp market enters a critical period.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The best advice for buyers right now is to take care of near-term needs Shrimp prices have moved up steadily since early last year but are now beginning to taper back down. Black tigers could be the exception. Prices for Ecuador whites...

Slow season brings some good buys.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2000... From Alaska pollock to New Zealand hoki, there's lots to choose from The whitefish market is entering a slow summer period, with decreased demand producing a number of good buys. Single-frozen Alaska pollock was a very good buy at $1...

Live lobster is cheap and plentiful.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Sea scallop buyers also have reason to smile; not so snow crab dealers "Lobsters for everybody!" cried eastern processors in June. The bugs were cheap and plentiful, and the season ahead looked pretty for everyone in the industry. ...

Catfish relief in sight.
July 1, 2000... With new crop in July, prices should drop You can expect the supply of catfish available in the market to remain tight at least until around mid-July, with prices continuing to hold firm. The fish that processors were pulling from the...

Whole Atlantics tight on East Coast.(farmed Atlantic salmon market)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2000... For farmed fillets, Chilean imports are plentiful and nicely priced Along the East Coast, farmed Atlantic salmon are generally in tight supply. Some processors are only running at 75 to 80 percent capacity, though a few farms have an...

Science-based fisheries management works.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The congressional staffers sounded alarmed as they warned us about the possible introduction of a Senate bill to amend our nation's premier fishery law. The conversation quickly turned to the big picture -- to the potential demise of...

Step by step.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The challenge Open a chain of casual seafood restaurants in Boston, a city renowned for its seafood. The obstacle Naked Fish owner Joey Crugnale had launched ice cream and Italian concepts (Steve's Ice Cream and Bertucci's), but...

Naked Fish exposes the fresh side of seafood.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Joey Crugnale is Livin' la Vida Loca with his Cuban-inspired seafood concept Restaurateur Joey Crugnale has a knack for taking common foods like ice ream and pizza and making them cutting-edge menu items. He combined ice cream and...

Heads up.(Faith Popcorn forecasts online purchase of groceries)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... New Popcorn revolution Seventy-five percent of all groceries will be purchased online within the next 10 years, predicts Faith Popcorn, author and consumer trend forecaster, in her new book "Eveolution," about marketing to women. Popcorn...

Seafood makes inroads into upscale HMR market.(home meal replacement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Retailers give restaurants a run for their money with quality meal solutions Long before trend-watchers coined the phrase "home meal replacement," the Lund's and Byerly's grocery stores were in the HMR business, selling meatloaf, pot roast...

Seen & heard.(seafood - marketing and retail news)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... A new spin on frozen A Giant Food store in Maryland is using an innovative variation on the word frozen. Seafood in the case is often described as "fresh frozen," "frozen at sea," "IQF" and "previously frozen." But Giant Food doesn't even...

Selling under-used species can boost your margins.(encouraging customers to buy unfamiliar fish)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Non-traditional seafoods are a bargain -- both for you and your customers Whenever seafood buyers get together, talk is inevitably about how over-fishing, tariffs, government regulation and dwindling fish runs are making it difficult to...

Side dish.(seafood on restaurant menus)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Leap frog Are frog's legs making a comeback? Michael Foley of Printer's Row in Chicago has experimented with fresh baby frog legs as an appetizer. Todd English of Olives serves spicy Buffalo-style, deep-fried frog legs at his outpost in...

Name-dropping is "in" at seafood restaurants.(seafood menus include information on where the fish comes from)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Restaurateurs find value in telling where their seafood comes from Carolina grouper and diver scallops? Atlantic salmon and line-caught swordfish? Tilefish caught by the F/V Miss Kathy out of Fort Pierce, Fla.? What's going on here? ...

Eco-watch.
July 1, 2000... Shark import ban? Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is proposing a ban on imports of highly migratory sharks from nations or vessels that engage in shark finning. The measure would be part of Snowe's proposed changes to the Magnuson-Stevens...

Aquaculture industry prospects a new frontier.(farming fish in the open sea)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Offshore fish-farming could open new, conflict-free territory Seven miles off the coast of New Hampshire, a second crop of mussels grows in finemesh nylon "socks" 170 feet beneath the ocean surface. The researchers running the project...

Surimi seafood.
July 1, 2000... Can the seafood-analog category establish a new, elevated standard for quality? Imagine for a moment that you re an average consumer scanning the seafood case as you plan a summer dinner party. Noticing the brightly colored packages of...

Shark.
July 1, 2000... Despite fishery management cutbacks, supplies of most shark species remain readily available The jaws of government have been clamping down on the shark industry in an effort to stop the overfishing of a finfish that was promoted as an...

Packaging.(varieties of seafood packaging)
July 1, 2000... Innovative manufacturers tap technology to meet seafood merchandisers' needs for vac and tray packs Years ago, seafood packaging consisted of little more than paper bags and plastic wraps. But the last five years have seen a transformation...

PRODUCT NEWS.
July 1, 2000... Processing equipment pH monitor The double-junction, waterproof pHTestr2 is the latest measurement solution from Telatemp Corp. The pocket-sized unit features push-button calibration, IP67-rated waterproof/dustproof housing and...

PEOPLE.(appointments)
July 1, 2000... Darden Restaurants Red Lobster announces that John J. Altomare is now senior vice president of food and beverage for the restaurant chain, responsible for all culinary and menu development. Altomare, who has been involved with the...

Barbara Belknap, executive director Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.(Interview)
July 1, 2000... Barbara Belknap has seen a lot of changes in the salmon business in her 11-year career at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the last two as executive director. Sure, Alaska's share of the salmon market declines each year, but with annual...