Salmon hot dog? Kvarøy takes on the challenge

Kvarøy Arctic will be launching a line of frozen salmon hot dogs and salmon burgers across the United States next month. But as the company found out, the reason most U.S. consumers have never seen a salmon hot dog for sale before is that they were extraordinarily difficult to develop, according to Kvarøy Strategic Development Consultant Jennifer Bushman.

“The challenges were many – from the casing to the other ingredients – so that we could get the snap of a classic American hot dog with the nutrition of salmon,” Bushman said.

The Kvarøy, Norway-based company was able to accomplish the feat with the help of a valued partner in Norway, Bushman told SeafoodSource. Stranda, Norway, based Platina Seafood, which produces fine foods with Norwegian salmon cuts, approached Kvarøy CEO Alf-Gøran Knutsen with the idea of Kvarøy supplying trim for to develop the product line.

“Once we began to collaborate, we were off and running,” Bushman said.

While there are a few other salmon hot dogs on the market, the resulting  product is one that tastes exactly like a traditional hot dog, Bushman said.

“We think we did it and are grateful to the Eat Salmon/Platina team for making it happen,” Bushman said.

The resulting Kvarøy Arctic Salmon Dog is available for online or in-store retailers to start carrying in August. Flavors include: Original Recipe, Original & Cheese, Jalapeno & Cheese, and Chile & Cheese.

FultonFishMarket.com will be the first to carry both the Salmon Dog line and the new Kvarøy Arctic Salmon Burger line, and then other retailers and restaurants will start carrying them after Labor Day.

“We knew that value-added products were going to be a critical part of our development,” Bushman told SeafoodSource. “We needed to have exactly the right product line with exactly the right partner to make this a success.”

When creating the frozen Salmon Burger, Kvarøy Arctic executives wanted burgers that were easy to prepare in flavors “that were comfortable and that everyone would fall in love with,” Bushman said.

Salmon Burger flavors include: Original Recipe, Chile & Cheddar Cheese, Original & Cheese, and Jalapeno & Cheese. They will be priced below USD 9.99 (EUR 8.60) for a two-pack, based upon the retailer and their margins, Bushman said.

The time is right for value-added, sustainable products like the burgers and hot dogs, according to Bushman, since consumer demand for value-added, healthy, and sustainable foods at retail has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have learned that sustainability denotes safety and that consumers are looking for food that is more sustainable that they can feel good about in terms of how it is handled. They are also looking for foods that help them stay strong and fight off what this climate has done to challenge their health,” Bushman said.

Plus, consumers do not want to eat foods that they are not familiar with; instead, they are gravitating toward comfort foods, she noted.

“Armed with this information, we wanted to offer a line of foods that really resonated with consumers, chefs, and foodservice. A good-for-you version of American classics,” Bushman said.

As a result, the Salmon Burger and Salmon Dog are available in foodservice packs as well as retail. In fact, the Salmon Dog will be on kids menus by fall with “major restaurant chains,” according to Bushman.

Photo courtesy of Eric Wolfinger