Lobster, shrimp lead restaurants’ pre-Lent specials

Well ahead of the Lenten season, U.S. restaurant chains are promoting new dishes utilizing lobster and shrimp – relatively affordable seafood options for foodservice buyers.

Quiznos and Qdoba are among the companies featuring new seafood dishes for Lent, which runs from 22 February through 6 April.

While shrimp prices rose in 2022, consumer demand for shrimp is still growing, Rich Products Consumer Brands Division Senior Vice President Shannon Gilreath said at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference on 17 January in La Quinta, California, U.S.A., Gilreath said a softening of the U.S. shrimp market in 2022 was a result of rising prices due to inflationary impacts. But she said her company expects growth in the shrimp market this year, as she said shrimp is still considered a good value in many consumers' minds as compared to other species.

In 2022, lobster tail prices sunk from USD 25 (EUR 23.08) in January to below USD 17 (EUR 15.69) at the end of the year, and remained that level thus far in 2023. Lobster meat is now below USD 25 (EUR 23.08) per pound, with both meat and tail prices starting the 2023 season at 31 percent below its prices a year prior, according to data presented at GSMC. Prices plummeted earlier in 2022 after reaching record levels in 2021, putting stress on an industry that has faced multiple challenges, including the recent destruction of fishing grounds and fishing gear caused by tropical storm Fiona and ongoing labor shortages stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With shrimp and lobster both considered more affordable, a number of foodservice chains are promoting new menu options featuring the two species: ...

Photo courtesy of Quiznos