Christine Blank

Contributing Editor

Christine Blank, a veteran freelance writer and editor, covers all aspects of the seafood industry, from fishing to processing to selling and serving the final product. When she is not writing for SeafoodSource, Christine gets to taste scrumptious seafood dishes at U.S. restaurants for her food and travel blog, Flavorful Excursions (www.flavorfulexcursions.net). Christine loves to eat seafood of any kind, but lobster, crab and crawfish are among her favorites. In addition to SeafoodSource.com and SeaFood Business, Christine’s articles have been published in hundreds of leading magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times, USA Today and Associated Press.

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Published on
November 20, 2023

Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Ocean Beauty Seafoods is shaking up the U.S. retail market with four new wild salmon products for retail, along with one for foodservice. 

Headlining the new offerings is honey-cured smoked wild Alaskan sockeye nuggets under the supplier’s Echo Falls brand, which won first place in the retail category at the 2024 Alaska Symphony of Seafood competition on 13 November.

The nugget launch ties in

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Published on
November 15, 2023

US Foods has acquired Fresno, California-based Saladino’s Foodservice – which supplies restaurants in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon – a move that will bolster its growth as it and Sysco both report big sales and revenue spikes.

“We are excited to announce that we have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Saladino's Foodservice, our second tuck-in acquisition this year, and look forward to welcoming the

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Published on
November 14, 2023

Overall food and seafood inflation is dropping, but U.S. shoppers are still buying less fresh and frozen seafood.

Sales of fresh and frozen species continued to fall in October 2023, while sales of shelf-stable products rose, according to Circana data analyzed by Lakeland, Florida, U.S.A.-based retail research firm 210 Analytics.

Seafood prices dropped 0.7 percent for the month, driven by a decline in fresh shellfish prices, which dropped 8.7

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Published on
November 14, 2023

Despite continued decline in grocery inflation rates, several U.K. supermarket chains are asking suppliers to lower their prices.

Waitrose is the latest grocer to ask suppliers to add deflation proposals” to joint business plans for 2024. In early November, Waitrose buyers sent an email to suppliers asking them to identify areas of their supply chain that have had price drops so they could also lower prices.

We have in

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Published on
November 8, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will likely buy lots more Alaska pollock in 2024, according to Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers CEO Craig Morris.

In a new solicitation, the USDA is seeking to buy 815,600 pounds of pollock, including 435,000 pounds of frozen bulk fish and 380,000 pounds of frozen breaded Alaska pollock fillets.

Bids must be submitted by 14 November 2023 and acceptances will be announced by midnight on 27 November. Deliveries

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Published on
November 8, 2023

Blue Circle Foods is launching a line of miniature salmon sausages with an eye to holiday parties and entertaining, and is also planning to launch a new hot smoked sockeye salmon early next year. 

The Washington, D.C., U.S.A.-based company is partnering with Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A.-based Spicewalla to launch Chili Lime Salmon Shorties. The miniature salmon sausages – about an inch and a half long – bring a “retro

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Published on
November 6, 2023

As part of an overall campaign to offer budget-friendly foods this holiday season, Aldi U.S. is touting several new and existing fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable seafood items.

Batavia, Illinois, U.S.A.-based Aldi U.S. said it is bringing in 350 festive food offerings including over 70 new items with the majority priced under USD 10.00 (EUR 9.41). It is expanding its meat and seafood offerings this season with a variety of new products, like

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Published on
November 6, 2023

Aussie Grill by Outback, the first fast-casual restaurant chain in the U.S. to serve steak via drive-thru, is also featuring several seafood dishes

Aussie Grill, which has 91 locations across the U.S., is operated by Tampa, Florida, U.S.A.-based Bloomin’ Brands, owner of the Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill restaurant brands.

Aussie Grill is currently featuring several shrimp dishes that can be ordered via drive-thru, Aussie

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Published on
November 2, 2023

As Walmart and Amazon continue to battle for their share of Americans’ grocery purchases, both appear poised to capture significant grocery and seafood sales in the near future.

Walmart, which operates more than 4,600 stores in the U.S., invested more than USD 9 billion (EUR 8.5 billion) in the past two years to upgrade 1,400 U.S. stores across the country. The retailer celebrated the re-grand opening of 117 stores across the U.S. in late

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Published on
November 1, 2023

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning about certain oysters from Fanny Bay, British Columbia, Canada-based Taylor Shellfish Canada, which operates as Fanny Bay Oysters.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) notified the FDA that Taylor Fanny Bay Oysters (BC 0773 SP,WS) issued a voluntary recall of live oysters due to Vibrio parahaemolyticus test results.

The affected oysters were shipped to two distributors in the U.S. states of

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