Seafood Expo North America (SENA) may be behind us, but Catch the Current hosts Amanda Buckle and Lorin Castiglione are reliving the Boston fun on this week's episode.
Amanda and Lorin share clips of interviews from the SENA show floor and give their three key takeaways from this year's big event because what happens in Boston ... gets talked about on Catch the Current.
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Don't have time to listen? You're missing out on the fun! Find a full transcript of season 1, episode 9 of Catch the Current below:
Amanda Buckle (AB): You're listening to Catch the Current, the coolest seafood podcast out there, from the team at Undercurrent News, your trusted source for industry news, data and prices. I'm Amanda Buckle.
Lorin Castiglion (LC): And I’m Lorin Castiglione. Are you still riding that Boston high, Amanda?
AB: You know it, Lorin! I can't believe Seafood Expo North America is over already. What a great show.
LC: You can definitely say that again. So, let's relive the magic of SENA by recapping the show with our three big takeaways from the event -- and some audio clips sprinkled in between.
AB: Number one...
LC: Selling Sunset star Emma Hernan.
AB: Oh my god, yes. That was an unexpected surprise!
LC: That surely was.
AB: I don't know if everybody knows who Emma Hernan is. Lorin, do you want to explain?
LC: I mean, our fan base probably would. But she's the star of a Netflix reality show, Selling Sunset. And Amanda and I have been fangirling her from the start.
AB: Yes. So her day job is real estate in Hollywood. But she also has a plant-based empanada line.
Lorin and I, in another life, would eat food on camera. We had Emma's empanadas because they were trending because of the Netflix show. So we tied it all into seafood because her family owns Yankee Trader.
Yankee Trader's Seafood Crepes
And Yankee Trader, they were on the Boston seafood show floor. They actually were debuting some new products. One of them was seafood crepes. It's like a blend of seafood and different cheeses and spices wrapped in this crispy crepe wrapper, which looked really cool.
They do a bunch of these value-added products. They have seafood cakes, spring rolls, all these cool appetizers and, of course, empanadas.
So Emma was there supporting her family. And Lorin gave me the text to come running.
LC: Drop what you're doing, 9-1-1.
AB: She did text 9-1-1. And I did. If anybody saw a green suit sprinting across Seafood Expo North America, that was me. And it was worth it.
LC: It truly was.
AB: So yeah, so we got to meet Emma. We talked to her a little bit about her line, too. It turns out she is coming out with a plant-based crab cake. So we'll have to learn more about that.
And of course, we're going to have to connect with her family to learn more about Yankee Trader, because we got so distracted that we really didn't even learn about the seafood crepes that we probably should have.
Yankee Trader offers a traditional crab cake, while Emma Hernan's produ t line provides a plant-based alternative. Photo Credit: Undercurrent News
LC: I mean, we apologize for fangirling, but we had to.
AB: We 100% had to. And it was work-related. We showed her the video. She got her business card. It was fine.
Ok, so meeting Emma Hernan was personal number one. But work-related number one: tariffs. I, at one point, begged to stop talking about COVID, and I think I'll soon be begging to stop talking about tariffs. But there was no avoiding the "T" word on the SENA show floor this week.
So, Lorin, is head of price reporting for the Americas at UCN. I'm putting you in the hot seat here. You were extremely busy on the show floor meeting with your contacts -- so busy that I went out interviewing some new potential co-hosts. Beaver Street Fisheries' Mark Frisch and Bill Hueffner from Pacific Seafoods are in the final running, by the way.
LC: Excuse me. Number one, if you're replacing me with anybody, it's got to be Keith Singleton.
AB: Uh, that would be my last choice. And I'll tell you why. Keith would never let me get a word in. It would be the Keith show.
LC: All right. All right. That's fair.
AB: But Keith's interview was awesome. So now what, thanks Lauren for plugging that. I'm going to just insert Keith's interview right below.
So if you haven't listened to it yet, we talked to him on the show floor of "Boston 2025 in 5" about Alaskan Leader's miso black cod. That was like the first thing we ate on the first day of the show floor and it made our morning. They have so much exciting stuff going on with their deal with Costco, and we talked about getting that product more into the foodservice side of things.
So again, a really fun interview to listen to because it was a blast. And he let Scott Sandvig get some lines in this time as well.
LC: Only a few.
AB: See? Like I said, why he wouldn't replace you.
Wow. We got really sidetracked here.
My point, Lorin, is that while you were away from me, you got a real feel for what the state of the industry is right now with these potential tariffs dangling on the line.
LC: I couldn't help but notice the same look of defeat on people's faces when I brought up tariffs, especially with my groundfish contacts. Because not only are we dealing with the 20% tariffs on product from China, but for items like haddock and yellowfin sole, where exemptions are already at play for the previously imposed 25% tariffs that are up at the end of May. Those items could be facing a 45% tariff.
So everyone's heads are spinning keeping up with all things tariffs, but of course, those value items can see the most impact as they have the smallest margins and any added costs can quickly be passed along to the consumer.
So stick with Undercurrent and we'll keep you abreast of what's going on if we can do so without our heads falling off.
AB: We talked to a few people on the show floor who said that they've been spending a lot of time in Washington DC. And of course, the seafood industry has an ally there in the form of the National Fisheries Institute. Lorin and I were able to enjoy some quiet time off the show floor (and our feet) with NFI president Lisa Wallenda Picard, who talked to us about how the organization has refreshed its website – with the help of NFI's very own and very talented media and communications manager Kayla Bennett – to ensure the media, consumers and policymakers have the facts about seafood.
LC: You can listen to this clip from Lisa as she explains why the newly revitalized website came at such a crucial time.
AB: Ok, number two. Value items. 210 Analytics just released its latest report looking at grocery and food spending for the month of February. And according to the consultancy, there was a 21% drop in seafood sales last month.
LC: Surveys found that a majority of US consumers are worried about the tariff threats made by US president Donald Trump. So there's concerns about rising costs for food and gas. People are concerned about losing their jobs. Overall you're seeing people cutting back on non-essential purchases. And 210 Analytics reports that many shoppers are focusing on price-driven purchases and promotions.
Enter Trident Seafoods' Essentials line.
Trident debuted its Essentials line at Seafood Expo North America. Photo Credit: Undercurrent News.
AB: So Trident's always got one of the coolest booths and best samples. And we've got friends we like to bother there. But the first thing that caught my eye when we got to the booth was this new product – the Trident Seafoods Essentials Line.
There's crunchy breaded fish portions, beer-battered fish portions, and then jumbo fish sticks. And what's super cool about this is that it's their new value line using minced fish. It's at a lower price point, still providing consumers with wild-caught Alaska pollock, 12g of protein, those important omega-3s.
LC: A product that's not pricing people out of seafood. They are all value-packs so you're feeding the entire family.
AB: And the packaging has those magic words that a lot of people are looking for right now…
AB: Air-fryer ready?
LC: Made in the USA...
Wait, what were you saying?
AB: Air-fryer ready. Each product from the essentials line is ready in under 15 minutes. You know how much that means to me?
LC: Yes, me as well. I just thought that with the tariffs we were talking about earlier and the bright red label across the packaging that says "Made in the USA"... so, you know, forget it, forget it.
Finally, number three on our list: Innovation. And we're going to leave you here with a couple of sound bites with some upcoming "Boston 2025 in 5" episodes, which we'll have more coming out next week.
AB: This first bite is from someone who has already been featured on Catch the Current -- our favorite Boeing engineer turned salmon smoker, Jade Taylor of Angel Oak, who debuted a smoked salmon ravioli that was just to die for. I need more in my life.
LC: I don't know what's better -- the ravioli or the story behind the ravioli, which you have to listen to the podcast to learn about. But I already have a few friends in the restaurant space and have told them that they need to jump on this once it's debuted.
AB: Exactly. So take a listen.
Angel Oak's smoked salmon ravioli. Photo Credit: Undercurrent News.
Want to hear the sound bite from the Angel Oak interview? You'll just have to listen to the episode!
LC: Subscribe now on your favorite podcast streaming platform so that you'll be the first to listen when the full episode of Angel Oak's "Boston 2025 in 5" episode drops next week.
AB: Another Boston 2025 in 5 episode to look for next week? Monica Talbert, the co-founder and CEO of the Plant Based Seafood Company, who launched a new line at SENA called SMASH IT, which are these superfood salmon smashers.
LC: Take a listen.
Smash It at Seafood Expo North America. Photo Credit: Undercurrent News.
Want to hear the sound bite from the Monica Talbert interview? You'll just have to listen to the episode!
AB: Alright, I better start editing all these episodes. But before I go… Can we quickly talk about my new obsession?
LC: Oh boy, what's that? Keep it "G" rated.
AB: Squid snacks! So I did some exploring on my own while you were meeting with contacts and I found this booth that caught my eye because they were using some graphics from the Netflix show Squid Games. Have you seen it?
LC: I did when I was at the show floor, but I didn't get a chance to stop. I wanted to circle back. So I'm glad that you spent some time there.
AB: Yes. And I should clarify when I say graphics, I don't mean like -- because the show is very graphic -- I don't mean they show graphic photos from the Squid Games, but they had those little symbols from Squid Games. It's like that triangle, the circle. They didn't have the umbrella on their package. They turned it into a "Q" for the squid.
Anyway, the line is from Namdo Soban. The label just says "Fried Squid Snack" with this friendly-looking squid cartoon character. But in the product name they added the Squid Game symbols.
When I talked to them, they said that they were trying to capitalize on the Netflix show and try to get US consumers interested and intrigued by this product. And it worked for me.
Squid snacks on display at Seafood Expo North America. Photo Credit: Undercurrent News
LC: I was just going to say it totally worked.
AB: I talked to another company too. They had even cuter cartoon character. It's called Sea Yo! and their dream was getting into Costco.
LC: I could kind of see it, because whose dream is not getting into Costco.
AB: Fair enough. Costco carries a lot of seaweed snacks now. And they also have all those ramen lines. So all those Asian-inspired snacks are definitely popular in Costco. Someone's buying them. They keep adding all these products. I actually think these fried squid snacks would make a great addition, like a substitute for potato chips. But actually, the number one thing they said is to pair it with beer.
LC: All right. Let's get some partnerships going.
AB: We have all these breweries in the US. They're not all allowed to have kitchens, so they all have these like peanuts and stuff. And I can see these fried squid snacks.
They have these like crispy outside. They're chewy inside. Some of them are spicy, so washing it down with a beer would be good. And then of course they have protein too. So anyway, that's my new obsession.
LC: You didn't save some for me to try?
AB: I did!
LC: You didn't give them to me yet.
AB: I have everything packed away. Next time when I see you, believe me, I will unload all my squid snacks on you.
We'll eat it. Eat that fish. That'll be the next "Eat that Fish."
LC: Perfect.
AB: All right. Now stop distracting me. I need to get back to my editing.
LC: Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss a single episode of our upcoming "Boston 2025 in 5 episodes."
AB: Bye!
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