The 2016 Seafood Excellence Award winners were announced today at Seafood Expo North America, with French Creek Seafoods taking home the “Best New Retail” award for its Kickin’ Seafood Chili and Trident Seafoods winning the “Best New Foodservice” award for its SeaFusions Pacific Cod Bites.
The Seafood Excellence Awards recognize product leaders in the North American seafood market. New products are judged on several criteria, including uniqueness and appropriateness to the market, market potential, taste profile, convenience, originality and nutritional value.
A live judging took place and winners were selected from a group of finalists. A panel of seafood buyers and industry experts from the retail and foodservice industries determined who the winners were. For this year’s competition, judges included Jennifer Wandler from U.S. Foods, Sunita Seran from Loblaws, and Stan Harvey from The Cheesecake Factory.
Competition finalists were selected through a screening process of products participating in the Seafood Expo North America New Product Showcase. The Showcase features products, condiments and culinary dishes that were launched in the past year by exhibiting companies.
Seafood Expo North American is co-located with Seafood Processing North America and is North America’s largest seafood trade event, drawing more than 20,600 seafood professionals from more than 100 countries and more than 1,200 exhibiting companies.
