Top 25: Jackson & Partners Q&A

Jackson & Partners is featured in The Top 25 Seafood Product Innovators list, published by SeafoodSource on 28 September, 2021.

SeafoodSource: What are the key features highlighted in Jackson & Partners' latest product innovations, and what kind of trends inspired them?

Jackson & Partners: We pride ourselves on our commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. That is what drives our daily decisions in product innovation as well as how we run our company. Each one of our seven core brands that we developed over the past year and a half have sustainability and social responsibility initiatives that have a global impact. We pride ourselves on partnering with co-mans that are certified, from Marine Stewardship Council, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, to Best Aquaculture Practices, and are currently building out a global trade-financing mechanism.

SeafoodSource: Has the pandemic influenced/impacted your innovation process? If so, how?

Jackson & Partners: Jackson & Partners is expanding its plant-based private label brand of Gotcha! Yes, It's Plant Based products into the seafood category. Consumer interest in plant-based eating, as well as in ready-to-eat seafood meals, continues to drive product innovation. The plant-based seafood category shows potential for continued accelerated growth. Launches of plant-based seafood alternatives had a compound annual growth rate of 44 percent in North America and 15 percent globally over the 2016-2020 period, according to data from Innova Market Insights. Jackson & Partners is taking a major stance in many plant-based products in 2022 and beyond.  

[The mission of Gotcha! Yes, It’s Plant-Based is] to deliver high-quality, plant-based innovative food products to the masses that have exceptional flavor and always are flavor-forward.  We never compromise on taste [or] the complexity of the artfulness of the products that we create and we want our customers to say, ‘Yes, you did get me; I didn't know it was plant-based and I absolutely love it.’  We pride ourselves on being industry disruptors – pushing the limits to create a more equitable and sustainable world that not only tastes great, but also makes a positive impact. 

In the near-future, numerous plant-based seafood, dairy, snack, and drink products will come to market under our Gotcha! brand.   

SeafoodSource: Heading into 2022, what are Jackson & Partners' product portfolio goals/aspirations? 

Jackson & Partners: Jackson & Partners will continue to strive to bring the best value-added innovative products across multiple categories globally, and we have positioned ourselves to provide customer solutions options unrivaled in value. We have plans to expand our seafood offerings under our Gotcha! brand, which we talked about extensively and we are always looking for partners that are willing to be innovative and true game-changers in the food and beverage industry. That was our goal when we started Jackson & Partners, and that is what drives our product choices.

Photo courtesy of Jackson & Partners