Prepared Foods showcases new meat, poultry and seafood products debuting in October 2019.

SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood Co., St. Simons Island, Ga., introduced calamari with tomato romano sauce to its product mix.

“Seafood lovers have been waiting for this for a long time,” said Kristen Beadon, director of marketing for SeaPak. “For years, our research has shown consumers are interested in convenient, restaurant-quality seafood options that they can prepare and enjoy at home, so we can’t wait for them to try our new SeaPak Calamari!”

The product carries a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $8.99 per package and can be found in the freezercase at select Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway and Tops locations nationwide.

SeaPak is a registered trademark of Rich Products Corp., Buffalo, N.Y.

In other news, the company partnered earlier this spring with Anheuser-Busch on a three-item line of SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Shrimp, SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Cod and SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Crab Poppers.

The new products are available at select retail locations throughout the United States, including Walmart and Kroger.  The 9-ounce SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Shrimp, 12.5-ounce SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Cod and 11-ounce SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Crab Poppers, which come with a Citrus Tartar Sauce, retail for $8.25 MSRP. The 16-ounce SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Shrimp is accompanied by a Tangy Citrus Sauce and is priced at $10.30 SRP.

Plant-based food may be one of the hottest trends in grocery today, but for parents trying to get their kids to eat their vegetables, the struggle is still real. To help flexitarian families who are hungry for new ways to fill the vegetable void without sacrificing flavor or nutrition, Perdue Foods, Salisbury, Md., created Perdue Chicken Plus Nuggets, Tenders and Patties blended with vegetables.

Officials say the product blends cauliflower, chickpeas and plant protein to create the next generation of frozen chicken nuggets, tenders and patties, and each serving is complete with one-quarter cup (half a serving of vegetables) and is made with 100% all-natural ingredients and no antibiotics ever white meat chicken.

“Perdue Chicken Nuggets have been a staple for families for years, but we wanted to provide an easy way to round out the meal and help parents put an end to the ‘eat your vegetables’ battle,” said Eric Christianson, chief marketing officer for Perdue. “By blending plants and vegetables with the Perdue chicken families love, not only are we helping to meet demands for millions of parents but we are appealing to the growing number of flexitarian families who have an increased commitment to getting more plants and vegetables in their families’ diets.”

Perdue Chicken Plus comes in a 22-ounce bag with a suggested retail price of $6.99, and was available in foodservice and found in freezer aisles nationwide starting in September 2019.

This summer saw Reclaim Real LLC, Chicago, launch a Kickstarter campaign in support of its new Prevail Jerky line.

“Growing up as a kid I never focused on healthy eating. It wasn’t until after meeting my wife, who had severe food allergies, that I changed how I ate and shopped,” said Glen Kohn, founder and CEO. “When we learned that our kids shared her same allergies, we started to live a paleo lifestyle as a family. It forever changed our lives for the better.”

Varieties include Original, Spicy, Umami, and Lemongrass Sichuan. Kohn says Prevail is made for “ingredient conscious snackers of all kinds” and products feature grass-fed, finished beef; unique ingredients such as matcha and cardamom; as well as authentic cherrywood smoke. They also are paleo, keto and gluten free certified with no preservatives.

A 2.25-ounce (64g) package of Prevail Jerky sells for $7.99 online at www.prevailjerky.com.

“There is no question that our campaign on Kickstarter is a huge part of our future,” added Kohn. “We are looking for the funding to help secure additional production, to purchase more ingredients, buy additional packages, for media outreach, gaining brand awareness, trade shows, selling to specialty stores, grocery stores, distributors, selling to online vendors and additional fitness venues.”

Meat processor Sigma US, Phoenix, partnered with McCormick & Company Inc., Hunt Valley, Md., to develop four new premium, thick-cut bacon offerings with McCormick Grill Mates flavors.

“Marinating has been bringing more flavor to steak, chicken and pork for years, so it made great sense to do the same with bacon,” said Jeff Gaunt, marketing director at Sigma. “Our three-step process delivers more flavor than bacon that is only smoked, making it easy for consumers to enjoy a bacon that tastes better than any bacon they’ve had before.”

Varieties include …
… a classic Ultimate Bacon that’s marinated and seasoned with extra bacon flavor. 
… McCormick Grill Mate’s flagship flavor, Montreal Steak, with a robust blend of pepper, garlic and spices.
… Smoky Applewood, which combines sweet, smoky blend of chili pepper, garlic and Applewood smoke flavor.
… Brown Sugar Bourbon, which blends sweet brown sugar, bourbon, red bell peppers and spices. 

McCormick Grill Mates Marinated Bacon is part of a line of Sigma US & McCormick Grill Mates-seasoned products.

After debuting with its plant-based UNCUT beef burgers and breakfast sausage patty, Before the Butcher, Irvine, Calif., was back this summer with two new poultry items: an UNCUT Savory Chicken Burger and an UNCUT Roasted Turkey Burger.

“The variety of plant-based products we offer separates the UNCUT line from all other meat alternative options,” says Danny O’Malley, founder and self-proclaimed “Presi-plant” of Before the Butcher. “Our new chicken and turkey burger products provide delicious variations to the market, which has seen limited product choices despite explosive consumer demand and growth.”

As with all UNCUT products, O’Malley says the turkey and chicken burgers are 100% plant-based, gluten-free, non-GMO, and made from a proprietary combination of soy, coconut and canola oils, with natural seasonings. Each serving contains 7g to 18g of plant protein, has significantly less sodium than other meatless burgers at just 150g to 200g, and delivers the flavor, texture and experience of traditional animal-based burger products.

Created in 2018, Before the Butcher made its retail debut earlier this year in the fresh meat case at Bristol Farms in Yorba Linda, Calif. Additional retail expansion throughout the California market is scheduled for fall 2019, quickly followed by plans for national expansion. The company also is well established in the foodservice channel, with products distributed in more than 1,500 restaurants and more than 200 schools. 

The new UNCUT line of plant-based burgers will be available in late 2019 at select retailers. For more information, visit www.btbfoods.com.

Meating of the Minds

Hartman Group considers consumer opinions toward meat, plant-based foods and blended burgers

Rising demand for plant-based alternative meat and dairy products may not be the biggest problem facing conventional meat and dairy producers. New research by The Hartman Group, Bellevue, Wash., uncovered that almost all consumers — whether they purchase plant-based foods or not — have some level of distrust in meat and dairy companies/producers.

View full-size infographic
© 2019 The Hartman Group, Inc.
Source: Food & Technology 2019: From Plant-based to Lab-grown report

According to Hartman Group’s “Food & Technology 2019: From Plant-based to Lab-grown” report, the majority of consumers see plant-based alternatives as no different or better than conventional meat and dairy when it comes to being all natural, minimally processed, healthy and good for the environment and animals. This is true regardless of the plant-based category.

“Factory farming and its abuses have made consumers question the ethics of eating animal products; popular documentaries have eroded trust in the meat/dairy industries,” said Laurie Demeritt, CEO of The Hartman Group. “The upside for the industries is that for the vast majority of consumers, meat and dairy still represent highly symbolic, routine, and pleasurable categories.”

Food & Technology 2019 finds that milk, meat, and dairy alternatives are growing swiftly, while meat is growing slowly and milk is in decline. More than half of consumers (51%) have purchased plant-based milk, dairy, or meat in the last three months. These products are no longer a niche lifestyle choice but a prominent feature of mainstream food culture.

Plant-based purchasing today is happening in a cultural atmosphere that is very different from the moralistic, sustainability-driven vegetarianism of the 1970s. Less than half of plant-based purchasers today think of themselves as people who are limiting meat, and one in five actually describes themselves as carnivores.

More recently, The Hartman Group blogged about consumer interest in “blended” burgers that contain a mix of both meat and plant-based ingredients (see graphic). Interested consumers felt that this compromise would be likely to give them most of the flavor of meat that they crave but also allow them to eat in alignment with their health and ethical aspirations.

Visit www.hartman-group.com to learn more about the Food & Technology 2019: From Plant-based to Lab-grown report.

More recently, The Hartman Group addressed consumers’ more “ethical aspirations.” After its 2009 (post recession) review of consumer attitudes toward sustainability, company researchers came back this October 2019 with a new report titled, “Sustainability 2019: Beyond Business as Usual.” 

Demeritt says the new report finds that today’s consumers are confronted by real and immediate sustainability challenges. Crises no longer seem far away in time or space—even abstract problems like climate change and the permanence of plastic waste have become pressing and present for consumers across segments, and they want progress and solutions. 

In this tense national mood, consumers appear to be more willing to prioritize the greater good in their purchasing than in the past. In a major shift, 51% of consumers now report the environment as their major reason for purchasing sustainable or socially responsible products compared to 32% of consumers just two years ago.