US surimi producer Aquamar: Challenges at retail, foodservice down to 'a multitude of factors'

Amin Nabli, chief operations officer (COO) of California-based surimi producer Aquamar Holdings, said surimi's current challenges in the US market are due to a "multitude of factors."

In addition to what US producers describe as Russia's twice-frozen product flooding the US market, Nabli pointed to macroeconomic factors in the United States, including the end of COVID-19 pandemic relief programs which provided economic assistance to millions of Americans, impacting sales.

"Surimi is not the highest-priced commodity you would buy," he told attendees at the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) annual meeting last week, noting the end of that economic relief does impact US consumers that buy surimi in the United States.