SEA 



SCIENCE 



CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 

 Bacon-wrapped oysters are a new 

 value-added product to be distrib- 

 uted across the country. • Canadian 

 seafood buyers toured Rose Bay Oyster 

 Company. • The visitors sampled 

 bacon-wrapped oysters, oyster stew and 

 steamed oysters. • They also watched 

 workers shucking oysters. 



been around for 75 years. We are 

 at a real crossroads. If we don't 

 come out with something now, 

 we will be gone." 



Of the three items show- 

 cased to Canadian buyers, the 

 oyster seemed to be the most 

 appealing. "Everybody likes 

 bacon- wrapped items in the food 

 industry," says Mark Tytel of 

 Export Packers in Ontario. "It 

 has added value to whole oysters. 

 The hardest part will be educating 

 consumers about the product." 



New Seafood Projects 



At North Carolina seafood 

 companies, more value-added projects are on the 

 horizon. 



For more than 1 8 months, Nash has been 

 working with Sea Safari Ltd. and Carolina Sea- 

 food Ventures LLC to develop a line of products, 

 including a devil crab, crayfish cake and crab 

 cake. The process includes concept development, 

 formulating the product, sensory testing, analyses 

 for nutritional labeling, and shelf-life evaluations. 



The value-added products were developed 

 with funding from the North Carolina Fishery 

 Resource Grant Program (FRG). 



With the competition from foreign markets, 

 creating prepared seafood offers more profit 

 opportunities to domestic processors than selling 

 seafood commodities, according to Nash. 



"When creating new products for the food 

 service industry, American seafood processors can 

 identify trends and satisfy the needs of American 

 consumers faster than foreigners," he adds. 



In North Carolina, blue crabs are the most 

 economically valuable fishery. However, landings 



have declined, while imports of crabmeat have 

 increased. 



This combination has led to half of the 

 state's crab processors shutting down in the last 

 five years, according to the N.C. Division of 

 Marine Fisheries. 



To counteract the decline in the sale of 

 North Carolina crabmeat, processors are turning 

 to new products. 



In 2000, Jimmy Johnson and his wife, 

 Donna sold their crab processing business in 

 Washington because it had become too difficult 

 to compete with imported products on a cost 

 basis and virtually impossible to make a profit. 



"It got to the point where you could not 

 solely produce crabmeat and remain profitable," 

 says Johnson, who then joined Sea Safari Ltd in 

 Belhaven. "We had to sell the business or lose 

 everything we had worked our whole lives for." 



Johnson joined Raleigh marketing 

 consultant Laura Ritter, Purvis and Nash in a 

 product evaluation of several items, including a 



spicy crayfish cake, at the sensory laboratory at 

 North Carolina State University's Food Science 

 Department. 



"We can raise or lower the heat level to 

 moderate the spiciness of this crayfish cake," 

 says Nash. 



For the lobster morsel, the tasters agree that 

 it needs heavier breading. 



The processors have chosen products that 

 have the greatest probability for success in the 

 marketplace, according to Purvis. "We looked 

 at whether the price is compatible with other 

 products," he adds. "We are specifically trying to 

 identify niches for seafood." 



Large food companies have many chicken 

 and vegetable entrees but not many seafood 

 items, says Purvis. 



To better market the products, Carolina 

 Seafood Ventures has hired a North Carolina- 

 based food broker. "We are finalizing product 

 development and trade programs and figuring 

 out where to distribute the products," says Ritter. 



SPRING 2004 



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