Tuesday, May 5, 2.30 pm PST
Tough questions from a chef who doesn't use surimi
Chris Holen, chef and owner at Astoria-based Baked Alaska and a longtime friend of Jae Park, was put in what Park called "the hot seat" when the forum organizer asked him a pointed question.
"Surimi seafood is very simple -- no fish smell, clean, safe, you don't have to worry about further cooking, price is competitive and it has been used in sushi restaurants quite successfully," Park said. "How come you don't serve surimi seafood?"
Holen had an answer -- and it may be helpful to the gathered surimi producers.
"People want to have the real deal and in a restaurant like mine, and I guess I'm similar to many which serve in-season food, they want what's best right now and they want it fresh and they want to know what boat caught it," the chef said.
"That's kind of it in a nutshell. I think it's just a matter of 'What can we do to make it more of its own product?' We make it taste like something else -- why can't we have a fish burger or a fish noodle and we call it what it is? Why can't we brand and market an item such as that, that's less expensive than a Chinook salmon burger but with the high protein and omega-3s that the customer needs?"
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 2pm PST
It's not just about the taste
When it comes to consumers choosing certain foods, it's not always about the taste, said Hunt. Sometimes, it's about the texture.
There are four types of mouth behavior she said -- crunchers and chewers, who use their teeth, are generally fast eaters and make up 76 percent of the US population, and smooshers and suckers, who move food around with their tongues, prefer not to use teeth, eat slowly and make up just 24 percent of US consumers.
Hunt passed around four types of candy -- Nerds (crunchers), butter mints (chewers), Gummy Bears (smooshers) and Jolly Ranchers (suckers) -- the majority of attendees turned out to be smooshers, defying traditional US trends.
"When you talk about texture, you can talk about the same product, but it will be different for different people," Hunt said.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 1.45pm PST
All natural
Younger generations, Generations Y and Z, "feel natural better serves their dietary needs," said OSU Surimi School's Angee Hunt. They want nothing artificial--and will splurge on them, too.
She gave the example of the tried-and-true, familiar brand of Lipton Iced Tea versus the up-and-coming, all natural Honest Tea.
People know Lipton, but the ingredient list at Honest Tea -- brewed tea, organic cane sugar and organic lemon juice will really resonate with Generations Y and Z, Hunt said. Lipton's first three ingredients are water, high fructose corn syrup and citric acid.
"It's something to think about with fish, too," she said. "They think of surimi seafood as being the Lipton Iced Tea--they don't know what's in it but they may still eat it."
Better yet, she said, emphasize the healthiness and versatility of surimi.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 1pm PST
Mixing the unfamiliar with the familiar
The industry knows the benefits of surimi -- so how does it help consumers understand that? By "making it somewhat approachable from a consumer standpoint," said Eric Mueller, chief marketing officer for Illinois-based Muise Innovation.
He said an important target demographic is Generation Z, or Milennials -- those born from 1985 to 2000 -- because "they can lead to the sustaining of surimi as being an option ... that can compete with chicken, compete with tofu, be a versatile element to cuisine. They're very in tune with trends."
Such as sriracha -- which Mueller said "is almost a need from society now. My family and friends almost require it on any type of cuisine." Mueller suggested substituting surimi for already known dishes -- healthy snacks such as surimi seafood chips, marinated like cocktail garnishes or pickling the dishes.
Muise tried the latter with three flavor profiles -- Mexican, Asian and Italian, because they are widely and generally accepted with American consumers. The company sampled the three at the Surimi Forum, surimi pickled in the three flavors, to positive response from attendees.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 11.40am PST
Production by the numbers
Production of US pollock surimi, generally caught by large vessels as part of well-managed fisheries, was up by 10,000 metric tons last year, balancing out Japan's production, which decreased by 12,000 metric tons, said Jae Park, based on a presentation prepared by Future Seafood's Pascal Guenneugues.
Tropical fish surimi production, which is mixed species of small fish and non-table fish caught by artisanal vessels, was relatively stable in Thailand, India and China and shot up by 20 percent, or 25,000 metric tons, in Vietnam.
China's surimi production of silver carp increased 10,000 metric tons in 2014 and global production as a whole increased 40,000 metric tons, or 5 percent, last year.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 11.15am PST
Expensive taste*
While production volume of surimi as a whole in Japan has been on a downward trend, production of higher-priced products such as chikuwa has increased, Itou said in his presentation.
In addition, time people spend cooking has decreased so manufacturers need to put effort into innovating ready-to-eat surimi items, he concluded.
*This presentation was given in Japanese and translated by an interpreter.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 11am PST
Downward spiral in Japan*
Production of surimi seafood products in Japan hit a high peak, 1.04 million tons, in 1975, said Kibun Foods' Toshimi Itou. But by 2013, it was down to just more than 467,000 tons -- a steep drop.
Part of the reason, he said, is that elderly Japanese consumers tend to purchase surimi -- or neri as they call it -- versus younger Japanese consumers. In total, a household in Japan spends about JPY 10,000 a year on surimi seafood items -- a mere $83.
The four main categories of Japanese surimi are chikuwa -- a baked or roasted type of surimi -- kamaboko -- a steamed surimi seafood product, often consumed to celebrate the New Year -- fried surimi and broiled surimi. These are the options producers can work on innovating to attract Milennials.
"In order to attract younger consumers, almost all surimi seafood manufacturers in Japan, including Kibun, are spending more time developing new and innovative products," Itou said.
*This presentation was given in Japanese and translated by an interpreter.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 10.30am PST
A challenge to surimi producers
Kentucky-based processor RBC Fish Company's Dr. Lula Luu said US surimi producers are seemingly missing a potentially lucrative target audience: Ethnic markets.
She said her "small" company sees "ethnic" surimi foods, such as fish balls, "flying off shelves" and said they can't always meet demand.
"There is a need for surimi products," Luu said, addressing the group. "And you guys don't seem to be meeting that need."
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 10.15am PST
'Worst roe market ever'
The impact of the weak Japanese yen puts pressure on pollock producers, said True World Group President Robert Bleu, formerly head of Shining Ocean.
The highest value home for pollock roe has been Japan, where the delicacy is given as New Year gifts and the weak yen is diminishing that, he said.
"This dynamic won't turn around anytime soon," Bleu said, adding that industry insiders have been buzzing about it being "the worst roe market ever."
He said companies such as True World have been seeking new ways to use pollock roe.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 10am PST
Trident: Surimi production up
Surimi production in Alaska was up 10 percent this A season compared to 2014's A season, Trident Seafoods Director of Pollock and Pacific Whiting Robert Csescinovits told the attendees.
In 2014, about 20,000 to 25,000 metric tons of Pacific whiting went toward surimi and he expects this year to be stable or down slightly.
About 15,000 metric tons went to fillets and blocks in 2014 and that should be stable, and 80,000 to 100,000 metric tons of the whiting will go to H&G, which should stay stable or trend up slightly.
The quota, which hit a low in 2009, has been trending up steadily since 2012, with the 2015 quota being 353,000 in the United States and 125,000 in Canada.
He also said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the Latin name of Alaska pollock to cod this week, and said this could affect numbers although he is not sure what it means quite yet.
In addition, Csescinovits said demand for surimi is surging, especially in southeast Asia and eastern Europe.
"Innovation will be the key in supplying our customers," he said.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 9.25am PST
What else affects surimi?
John Wells, president of British Columbia, Canada-based Pacific Blends, spoke of the commodities that affect surimi production, such as sugar, corn, lumber, oil and currency.
Sugar pricing is a bit higher than the historical average, about $13 per hundredweight (cwt) versus the historical average of about $11. Prices "shot up" after the recession but have been slowly coming down, he said.
Corn, used in the surimi industry to produce sorbitol, "bottomed out last year [around this time]," Wells said. In spite of reduced planting last year, yields are up and prices remain low for corn, he added.
Prices for tapioca starch, also used for sorbitol, have remained fairly stable, and lumber prices have dropped in the last few years, he said. Oil prices have also dropped significantly and "the US oil picture is changing dramatically due to fracking," Wells explained.
Another important commodity, egg whites, "have been falling pretty far from grace" and "the jury is out whether we'll see lower egg white prices throughout 2015."
Perhaps most importantly, the US dollar has jumped over the course of the past 12 months. Over the past five years, the US dollar has appreciated 25 percent, he said.
The euro has lost about 25 percent in strength against the dollar and the Japanese yen has fared even worse -- a 25 percent drop in 2012 and 2013 and another 20 percent drop last year.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 8.50am PST
The hot issue is bycatch
"Right now, the hot issue is salmon bycatch" in the pollock fishery, Barbeaux said.
While the bycatch dropped drastically from 2004 to 2008, and fishermen took initiative as well, "it still is a really hot issue," he explained. "The salmon really is the scared cow of Alaska."
It's mainly Chinook and chum salmon that is affected, he said and no bycatch can be sold--some does go to food banks in the Seattle and Portland areas.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 8.30am PST
Record numbers expected for Bering Sea pollock, hake
"I'm not going to bury the lead," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fishery Scientist Steve Barbeaux said. "A lot of the stock is going to be near-record or record high numbers for both pollock and hake."
Sixty percent of the catch in the Bering Sea is pollock, Barbeaux added, and it makes more than a billion dollars. Forty percent of the pollock harvest happens in the A season, January through April.
"There's a huge abundance of pollock on the Bering Sea right now," he said.
The reason? The 2006 and 2008 classes were huge--and now they are full grown. The good news, the 2014 class is big too so "there are new fish coming into the system."
Another reason for growth variability -- Barbeaux said where the fish is born and where it grows affects the size throughout its life. When a fish grows in colder water -- and 2009-2013 were cold years -- the stunted growth stays throughout its life and "it never grows to a larger fish, it always stays small."
As for hake, the coastwide catch for 2014 was 301,000 metric tons, 70 percent of the 428,000 TAC.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 8.15am PST
Yogurt, soup ... surimi?
Any industry can innovate, Bair said -- just take yogurt and beef jerky.
"The yogurt industry was no slouch when i came to innovation," he said. "They totally reinvented and rejuvenated the category. [Beef jerky] -- the innovation there is simply off the charts."
Closer to home, StarKist and similar bands "are using flavors, packaging, form and occasion to drive customer value," he said.
So what can surimi learn from these industries? Think of value-add and availability beyond regular grocery stores, he said.
"What if Chipotle had it?" he asked. "That would be amazing. So how do you accomplish it? Start small and learn from other categories."
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 8am PST
The most innovative category
"Arguably, surimi is one of the most innovative categories that's come onto the scene," T Hasegawa USA President and CEO Mark Bair told attendees. "The challenge is to keep it that way."
Bair, who spent two decades with Coca Cola, helped introduce the once-popular Fruitopia brand, which was created to take Snapple head on.
"Anybody here had Fruitopia lately?" he asked to a roomful of chuckles. "No, because it's not around. It started out great, Time magazine named it one of the top 10 brands of the year ... 15 years ago it ran over the cliff."
The moral? "If you're going to innovate, you're going to fail," he said. "And that's ok ... If you're going to fail, do it quickly."
-- Avani Nadkarni
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Tuesday, May 5, 730am PST
The lowdown on surimi
Participants from around the United States -- and around the world -- gathered in the waterfront town of Astoria, which lies just on the Oregon side of the state's border with Washington, to talk all about surimi.
Representatives from companies such as American Seafoods, Trident Seafoods and Maruha Nichiro Holdings were on hand at the event, organized by the Oregon State University (OSU) and Professor Jae Park.
-- Avani Nadkarni
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