Ocean Beauty Seafoods is adding smoked yellowfin tuna to its Echo Falls smoked seafood line.
The Monroe, Washington, U.S.A.-based company has been expanding its Echo Falls brand in recent years with value-added products, including Applewood Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon Sockeye Lox Bits and Pieces, Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon Tapas Slice – Mediterranean, and Honey-Cured Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Nuggets.
“Smoked seafood has always been a core part of our business and what we do best,” Ocean Beauty Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ron Christianson told SeafoodSource. “It was a natural decision to provide customers with a distinctive but approachable smoked tuna product, prepared using Echo Falls' traditional methods.”
Christianson said tuna was a familiar product for retailers, and pairing it with the Echo Falls brand will be a winning combination.
“Retailers are definitely looking for successful, non-salmon items. We are responding to this demand and know that tuna is a familiar and approachable item for consumers,” Christianson said.
The new oakwood smoked yellowfin tuna, which retails for a suggested USD 6.99 (EUR 6.52) to USD 7.99 (EUR 7.45) per 3-ounce package, is made with certified sustainable, wild-caught, non-treated yellowfin tuna, the company said in a release.
The fish is cured with salt and beetroot and then rimmed with black and white sesame seeds before smoking over oak.
“The result is a gorgeous, bright red color and a rich, silky texture that contrasts perfectly with the crunchy sesame seeds,” the company said.
Ocean Beauty is still banking on the smoked salmon market, according to Christianson, even though other major smoked salmon suppliers such as Foppen realized smoked salmon sales declines last year. Echo Falls’ sales, by contrast, rose 0.9 percent, according to Circana data.
“This trend has continued into 2024, which gives us confidence in the smoked salmon market,” Christianson said.
