Monica Talbert, founder of the Plant Based Seafood Company, finally made it onto the Seafood Expo North America show floor as an exhibitor this year thanks to her latest product release -- Smash It!

While Smash It wasn't sampling at the Boston Convention Center, crowds were gathered at the booth throughout the three-day event to get a look at the fun new product that combines sustainable Atlantic salmon with other healthy superfoods. 

Monica joins Catch the Current to tell the story of how her history with seafood and passion for healthy living has led to the creation of an at-home dining event that shoppers will want to document and share on social media.

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Don't have time to listen? You're missing out! But you can also read a full transcript of the podcast interview below:

Amanda Buckle (AB): You're listening to Catch the Current. I'm Amanda Buckle.

Lorin Castiglione (LC): And I'm Lorin Castiglione.

AB: We are live in Boston for Seafood Expo North America, where we are taking the show floor by storm for an epic series we are calling "Boston 2025 in 5."

LC: That's right. We are covering as much ground as we can over the next few days, bringing you the best of the best that SENA has to offer.

AB: So, without any further ado...

AB and LC: Let's "catch the current."

AB: This is Amanda Buckle. I'm recording at Seafood Expo North America where I'm here with Monica Talbert from... I don't know what company to name right now ... Which one do you want to be associated with?

Monica Talbert (MT): Well, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but the umbrella company is the Plant Based Seafood company and we have unveiled two new lines with real seafood.

AB: Which is why you're here.

MT: Yes, that's why I'm allowed in the doors this year. It's the same sustainability ethos with these two new brands, but they include fabulous real seafood. So we're really excited to be back.

AB: That's where your background traditionally is, right?

MT: I started when I was 14 years old in my mom's seafood market and restaurant. From there, we grew into a CPG company, getting into grocery stores, on Oprah's Favorite List.

And from there, being in the seafood industry, we just wanted to do something that was a bit more sustainable. One thing led to another, we created some plant-based seafood.

That's how we got into it. We've been doing that for four years, but now we're back.

AB: Mind Blown.

MT: Yes, we like to say it's a marriage of our past and present.

AB: The Mind Blown products were really cool. And then Smash It.

We're going to include photos because the product is beautiful. Explain it to me, though, because right now we're looking at a ball.

Smash It at Seafood Expo North America. Photo Credit: Undercurrent News.

MT: Yep.

AB: And it's covered in... What is it covered in?

MT: It is rolled in beautiful veggie crumbs, I would say. Instead of a panko, we wanted something that was going to stand out more and be more vibrant to showcase what was inside of the ball as well. So these are rolled in purple carrot, beet, cauliflower and carrot with turmeric crumbles. 

AB: It's vibrant. It's beautiful.

MT: These almost look like beautiful chocolate truffles. We all eat with our eyes first, and we know that better than anyone, I think. We've been selling seafood for a very long time, and we definitely wanted these to be aesthetically pleasing. We wanted them to jump off the shelf, and I think we've definitely accomplished that.

AB: Right now, they're in ball form, but they don't stay that way. The product's called Smash It.

MT: No, we don't want it to stay in ball form. So this is us bringing fun and interaction into seafood with this brand by encouraging our customers to bring the ball home and smash it, which is always fun. 

"Smash burgers" are a thing. They're a hit. But when you do smash it, what it unveils are the beautiful superfoods that are mixed in here with the salmon. So it's 50% salmon. Sustainable, ends and pieces, so upcycled. That's a part of our sustainability story with this product as well.

So you get to see all of the beautiful superfoods. You see that you're eating a really delicious but healthy product. And that's what this product is for, too. This is for the health and wellness consumer, the protein-obsessed consumer, the GPL-1 consumer. It's definitely food is medicine.

Seafood is so different from the other proteins of chicken and beef because we have these magical omega-3s. We've actually fortified that even more with this product. So we are definitely going to be leaning into.

They're not just omega-3s, it's prebiotic fiber. It's not just omega-3s, it's anti-inflammations, reducing anti-aging, all of the great things that omegas do. I think that that's a win for seafood.

AB: And now I also heard you talk about the aspect of social media with it because when you smash it, you're going to want to document it.

MT: You got to show off how you're doing it. We want TikTokers, we want our customers to get online and show us how they smash it.

An example of a Smash It product on the Seafood Expo North America show floor. Photo Credit: Amanda Buckle

AB: That goes back to what you're talking about with the health aspect of seafood. That's perfect for TikTok to be showing off.

MT: It's not just smashing the balls, it's smashing your health goals, smashing your cravings. It goes further than just the physical smashing of the balls. Another thing -- kids. I've already tested this out on many kids, my own being one of them, and they love smashing it and getting to see all the colors that are inside. And they get excited about eating seafood, which is really something difficult, I think, for young kids.

It's really important. You have to introduce seafood before they're one or two so they don't develop an allergy later. So this is really important. This is getting their vegetables or their whole foods and salmon, getting them engaged in the process. And two, you should see my five-year-old just smash the crap out of it, maybe a little too hard. But yeah, having fun with food, that's what food should be.

AB: So this is definitely the item on the show floor for that. There hasn't been that much excitement around something like this, and it's definitely something different.

You have these different flavors. Can you tell me?

MT: Oh, my gosh. We had to have fun with the flavors because of this whole brand. So we're showcasing here our cranberry rosemary feta. It is an incredible combination, really brings a sweet flavor profile, and it's beautiful.

At the same time, we have a hot honey jalapeno, which is all the rage and trending. And this is a spicy dill pickle pineapple.

AB: That's cool.

MT: This is a showstopper here. It is it is delicious. It's fun. It's different. You don't see it anywhere else on the show floor. We had to go for fun with the flavor profiles and that, you know, you need that to also work into your viral strategy of TikTok and things like that.

AB: Definitely. Are these out at retail yet? Where can people find them?

Smash It Foods is a new concept from the Plant Based Seafood Co. Photo Credit: Smash It Foods

MT: We've just debuted two days ago, but I would say in the next three to four months you can start seeing them in retail. You'll have to stay tuned.

AB: And do you have a goal of where you would like to see them in retail? Like, would they be at the seafood counter? Would they be in frozen? Where would you see these living?

MT: I want to stay out of frozen, but they most certainly can be in the frozen set. I want to see these refrigerated. These come frozen and can be slacked out. They have a shelf life under thaw, refrigeration. So that's where I would love for them to be.

But we're also selling them in a foodservice pack, so these beautiful balls can be seen in the seafood case of retailers and markets.

AB: All right, Monica, thank you so much. And we're looking forward to seeing more from the Plant Based Seafood Company.