Presentation and innovation go hand in hand when choosing seafood products to appeal to your customers

A move towards lighter coatings, more exotic species, selling points like ‘wild caught’ and ‘sustainable’ and an artisan appearance are the key elements likely to resonate with today’s customers when it comes to seafood.

The old days of uniformly-shaped product and an obvious mass-produced look have given way to seafood which presents as though it’s been made from scratch in the kitchen, and both local suppliers and importers have revised their product ranges accordingly. 

There’s also been a move away from whole fish towards fillet portions with skinless presentation, and a lot more grilled and lightly seasoned choices on the menu as opposed to deep fried food.

And with the current challenges to supply chains, consistency of supply is top of everyone’s list, points out David White, Executive Chef at Simplot Australia which markets seafood products under the I&J and Captain’s Catch brands.

“Foodservice operators are cutting back on their menus and only featuring the seafood they know they can get their hands on,” David says. “A few months ago this was primarily due to staffing issues but now it’s threefold: staffing, cost mitigation and supply concerns. Consequently the market is really turning to value added seafood products, which are a safe bet because all the work is done for you and you can be assured of consistent supply.”

Smaller portion sizes an emerging trend

David says managing your menu costs and planning ahead is much easier when you don’t have to worry about the daily price fluctuations of the fresh fish market. “Value added seafood also gives you consistent portion sizing, and the beauty of the type of coatings we’re using today is that they’re hand dipped, which delivers an authentic from-scratch style presentation. So you can tick off surety of supply, and free up staff to do other things than stand around battering fish.” 

Another emerging trend is smaller portion sizes which can be served for snacking, as finger food or as part of a seafood selection. Simplot launched South American Crispy Battered Flathead Fish Bites in 20-30g portions under the I&J brand some months ago, and this month is launching I&J Crispy Battered Wild Caught Goldband Snapper Fillets in 50g portions.

“Snapper consistently ranks among the top five table fish in Australia – it’s a highly recognisable species, and as such it’s being increasingly called out on menus,” David says. “Nowadays seafood is no longer generic – people want to know what they’re eating, and they know they’ll get a good eating experience with snapper.”

He adds that Flathead Fish Bites have also proven very popular in the few months they’ve been on the market. “I think when it comes to these products the fact that the portion size delivers so much versatility is one of the key selling points. It gives the chef a lot more flexibility in what they do with the product.

“A traditional value-added frozen fish fillet is around 110g to 150g, whereas these smaller portions are perfect for seafood platters, entertaining platters or finger food for cocktail events – they work with all kinds of serving configurations. If you’re selling a fish and chip snack pack, it works really well to serve two or three of these smaller sized portions as a grab and go snack with a bucket of chips. That’s proving very popular especially with the takeaway and home delivery markets.

“And as we all know, freezer space these days tends to be very limited – so having one product that you can use in multiple applications is very handy as it takes up less space.” 

Sustainability is another key selling point and for this reason Simplot’s value-added seafood focuses on sustainable and responsible sourcing with the likes of Marine Stewardship Council certification as well as Fishery Improvement Programs (FIP). “This gives the end-user the assurance when the seafood is from a sustainable source, and it’s very important not just to the younger generation of chefs who are coming up, but to their customers – those millennial consumers for whom food sustainability is a real concern,” David says.

Foodservice professionals sticking with tried and true sellers

Neil Cane, Innovation Manager at major seafood supplier Pacific West, also acknowledges that consistent of supply is foremost in mind with foodservice professionals right now. “We’ve managed to ensure this, thanks to having a great procurement team who keep our stock where it needs to be,” he says.  

“What we’re finding is that people want to stick with the tried and true sellers right now, the trusted menu items – they’re a little bit risk-averse to anything new. If it worked pre-Covid and during Covid, they’re sticking with it for the foreseeable future. And with so many price rises, the other thing they’re looking for is price stability as much as is possible.

“Staff shortages are obviously an issue right now, so the biggest sellers are products which are easy to prepare and simple to serve – which is right where our products fit. We’ve always offered quality value-added seafood which makes it easy to minimise wastage and serve a good meal with limited prep time at a cost-effective price.”

Recognising the current demand for deliver value-added freezer-to-fryer products which make it easier for FOH staff to serve something that looks great on the plate, Pacific West has introduced two variants of Salmon En Croute (wrapped in pastry) along with a Salmon Lasagne. “Salmon is a consistently popular species and these products make it easy to put something a little different on the menu without increasing your costs,” Neil says.

“Our Salmon En Croute is a salmon fillet wrapped in puff pastry and comes in two varieties – Mediterranean which is with a tomato and cheese sauce; and Traditional with a white wine and herb sauce. These have great eye appeal and will hold well in the bain marie so you can pre-cook them before your customers come in. We’ve packaged them in boxes of 20 so you can cook them in batches, then put another lot in the oven as required. The Salmon Lasagne is a little more of a bistro or room service style meal – it can be microwaved or browned under the grill to finish it off and also makes a great lunchtime snack in a café.”