Ready-To-Sell
Developing Value-Added Seafood Products
How do you make more money out of the same
product? You know — get a bigger bang for the buck?
As commodity producers, local seafood businesses
like yours may seem to be at a disadvantage with foreign
competitors because of their lower labor costs. But two
current market trends are in your favor:
The growing demand for seafood in this country,
particularly locally produced products.
Demand for convenient, ready-to-eat meals
because people are leading very busy lives, often
with little time to cook at home.
Following either trend can help you expand your
market and add value to your existing products:
When you identify your product with a locale, you
are appealing to a consumer’s attraction for a
region’s coastal heritage or their preference to buy
locally harvested foods.
When you create a product that is less perishable
and requires little in-home preparation, you are
satisfying a retailer’s need for an extended shelf life
and a consumer’s need for convenience.
By formulating a seafood appetizer or entree that is
nutritious, flavorful and easy to prepare, you are giving that
raw seafood enhanced or new qualities — thereby adding
value to your product.
But manufacturing a new seafood product is not as
simple as preparing a home meal. Processors must discern
how to receive, portion, weigh, blend and cook mass
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ingredients using different kinds of processing equipment.
Hazard analyses must be conducted to determine where
monitoring and control measures should be applied during
processing and storage to ensure that products will be safe
for consumers to eat. Creating new products is also time
intensive, taking up to a year or more to develop.
So how can you, the seafood processor, create
wholesome value-added seafood products that satisfy
specific consumer needs? There are two main answers we’ll
go over in this Blueprint:
Knowing who to talk to, and
Understanding the product development process.
WHO TO TALK TO: A Food Technologist
The state of North Carolina can help you develop
value-added foods through three resources: the Department
of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences (FBNS);
the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
(NCDA&CS); and the N.C. Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (NCDENR).
It’s easier to talk to a single person who can help
you navigate all the information and expertise within FBNS,
NCDA&CS and NCDENR. You need a food technologist.
Working with a food technologist who is
skilled in product development is critical to your
success. The technologist can help you access resources
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Blueprints NORTH CAROLINA SEA GRANT NC State University BOX 8605 RALEIGH, NC 27695-8605
UNC-SG-BP-10-10
Prepared by Barry Nash
Seafood Technology & Marketing Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
North Carolina State University Seafood Laboratory
Morehead City, N.C.
252/222-6337 barry_nash@ncsu.edu
Image Credit: Scott Taylor