OBI Seafoods, Trident Seafoods receive additional USDA contracts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is continuing its seafood spending spree this week, after awarding nearly USD 90 million (EUR 82 million) in contracts last week.

The latest awards, which were announced on 29 June, are for the federal government’s domestic food assistance programs.

Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based OBI Seafoods was awarded a contract to supply 47,120 cases of canned pink salmon worth USD 2.6 million (EUR 2.4 million).

Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident Seafoods was awarded a contract to supply 910,800 pounds of frozen Alaska pollock worth USD 1.7 million (EUR 1.6 million).

Deliveries will take place between 1 September and the end of the year.

The awards are significantly smaller than the awards the two companies received last week, when OBI was awarded USD 25.2 million (EUR 23.1 million) for 456,200 cases, or 300 truckloads, of canned pink salmon and Trident was awarded USD 16.7 million (EUR 15.3 million) for 6.6 million pounds of Alaska pollock fish sticks and USD 23.9 million (EUR 21.9 million) another for 8 million pounds of Alaska pollock fillets.

Braintree, Massachusetts-based Channel Fish Processing also was awarded two separate contracts in the previous round of contracts: the first for 4.7 million pounds of Alaska pollock sticks worth USD 11.2 million (EUR 10.2 million), and the second for 3.4 million pounds of Alaska pollock fillets worth USD 9.6 million (EUR 8.8 million).

Bids on another USDA solicitation, which sought 11,700 cases of frozen pollock fillets, 900 cases of frozen haddock fillets, 3.7 million pounds of frozen salmon fillets, 53,100 cases of frozen Pacific rockfish fillets, 238,500 cases of frozen salad shrimp products, 50,400 cases of frozen Pacific whiting fillets, and 753,200 cases of canned red salmon, were due 29 June. Those awards are expected to be announced early next week.

USDA has awarded USD 68.5 million (EUR 62.7 million) in contracts for Alaska pollock products so far this fiscal year. In fiscal 2022, USDA awarded USD 57.5 million (EUR 52.6 million) for Alaska pollock, and in fiscal 2021 the agency awarded USD 35.5 (EUR 32.5).

In May, Alaska’s U.S. congressional delegations announced the agency had agreed to purchase USD 67.5 million (EUR 61.8 million) in Alaska sockeye salmon products and another USD 52 million (EUR 47.6 million) in Pacific groundfish products for domestic food assistance programs.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock / GK1982