Channel Fish, Trident split USD 1.75 million pollock award

Channel Fish Processing and Trident Seafoods split USD 1.75 (EUR 1.6 million) in Alaska pollock contracts awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on 1 December.

Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Channel Fish will supply USD 988,559 (EUR 913,854) worth of frozen pollock sticks, while Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident will supply bulk surimi worth USD 759,924 (EUR 702,497).

The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers was “very pleased” to see the award, which will provide “delicious and healthy U.S.-caught and processed seafood to children served by the National School Lunch Program,” GAPP CEO Craig Morris told SeafoodSource.

The new award is USDA’s first Alaska Pollock purchase of the 2024 school year, which started on 1 October. Last year, the department purchased over 25.5 million pounds of products at a value of USD 68.5 million (EUR 63 million). 

“Our industry is hoping this most recent purchase is just the beginning of what will be another strong purchase year for USDA and that they continue to be a strong customer and partner as they have become in the past few years,” Morris said.

Channel Fish and Trident will deliver the products to several cities in the first quarter of 2024.

The solicitation is an entitlement purchase, so it is much smaller than the very large “bonus” or surplus removal purchases that USDA delivers to food banks in household portion sizes, Morris said when the department announced it was bidding for pollock. Entitlement purchases come solely from school districts that are using their entitlement credits from the USDA based on the percentage of families in the district that qualify for free or reduced-priced meals that order seafood instead of other proteins like chicken or beef, Morris said.

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