New GAPP Partnerships Span 3 Countries, Numerous New Wild Alaska Pollock Products

SEATTLE, Wash.—Fifteen new partners spanning three countries and various channels including retail, convenience, out-of-home and new product innovation were announced Monday at the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) Annual Meeting celebrating all things Wild Alaska Pollock. These new partnerships represent an aggressive recruitment effort to identify partners for the Program that are excited about the endless possibilities of Wild Alaska Pollock and are willing to bring an equal or greater commitment of matching funds to ensure the success of the various programs.

“The vision of this program is now, more than ever, coming to life with these new partners,” said GAPP CEO Craig Morris during Monday’s event. “These companies see the value in working with the Wild Alaska Pollock industry to innovate, market, promote and increase global consumer access to a fish that is good for you and good for the planet.”

The recruitment and application process for this latest round of partnership funding began this past spring with applications due in August. Each application was reviewed first by the GAPP Partnership Committee and then approved by the GAPP Board of Directors at its September meeting. The new partnership programs each align with at least one strategic objective for GAPP including innovation, targeting a younger consumer audience, digital and social promotion, out-of-home, and international.

Three companies were selected as advancing the goal of new product innovation with Wild Alaska Pollock. Specifically, Globowl, an internationally-influenced baby food company will introduce children to international flavors at a young with Wild Alaska Pollock. Neptune Snacks plans to follow up on its highly successful fish jerky innovation with a brand-new shelf-stable surimi snacking product that targets young males. Lastly, Okuhara Foods, a third-generation family-run business in Hawaii, will be sharing Wild Alaska Pollock-based products with a local culinary school to create inspirational recipes and new products to disseminate on social media.

To engage a younger consumer audience—Gen Z in particular—GAPP selected three programs it felt best advanced that objective.

FujiSan Sushi will be launching a promotion in universities wherein surimi-based sushi will be made fresh by sushi chefs on college campuses nationwide. King & Prince is re-launching its popular Mrs. Friday’s® Oven-Ready Fillet with higher protein and lower sodium to attract university and health care customers. Lastly, Moji Sushi will launch a very targeted Waze campaign so that when you’re on a road trip you can get an alert about picking up some healthy Wild Alaska Pollock surimi-based sushi conveniently along the route.

To continue to market Wild Alaska Pollock on digital and social channels, GAPP will partner again this year with Gorton’s Seafood who will leverage its highly successful “It’s Seafood Time” campaign to communicate the benefits, including the industry Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results, of Wild Alaska Pollock in the digital space. Trans-Ocean Products will also be doing a multi-tier influencer program including a TikTok challenge and Instagram contest to promote the benefits of Wild Alaska Pollock surimi seafood.

GAPP will also be using restaurants and out-of-home to increase the awareness of the fish and its attributes by working with four partners. Nordstrom is following up on its highly successful climatarian menu program with a chef influencer program which will bring Wild Alaska Pollock onto the menu at Nordstrom stores across the country. Trident Seafoods’ was awarded a unique partnership with the Oak View Group in sponsoring Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena that includes a sponsored food venue featuring Wild Alaska Pollock menu items and marketing and communications activities promoting Wild Alaska Pollock attributes to Seattle’s National Hockey League Kraken team fans and other arena attendees. Restaurant Depot will be launching a program to educate chefs not only on the beautiful benefits of cooking with Wild Alaska Pollock but also the fish’s incredible sustainability attributes. Lastly, 7-ELEVEN will be bringing back its highly successful “Lent Limited Time Offer Program” with a Wild Alaska Pollock fish sandwich.

In International markets, GAPP identified two partners in markets prioritized by the organization’s Wild Alaska Pollock 2040 research conducted by the McKinley Research Group as having the highest opportunity for Wild Alaska Pollock exports. In Spain, Angulas Aguinaga will be launching a program to communicate the Wild Alaska Pollock surimi awareness program to communicate the benefits of surimi seafood in their Krissia brand line. And, Noronha Pescados will launch Wild Alaska Pollock in Brazil with fish sticks and fish bites products just in time for World Cup snacking.

“The industry should be proud of its investment in this program and the way that investment is bringing awareness to Wild Alaska Pollock and putting it in front of consumers who would never have seen it previously,” said Morris. “As Ketchum’s Mary Elizabeth Germaine said on Monday, consumers are finding Wild Alaska Pollock more and more often and that’s due in large part to our partners innovating on menus and in product lines and also utilizing our marketing tools to talk about Wild Alaska Pollock and its attributes in a consistent, meaningful way.”

During Monday’s meeting, current and past partners including Gorton’s Seafood, Nordstrom and Trident Seafoods shared their thoughts on the future of the food industry and the GAPP Partnership Program. Full presentations from the GAPP Annual Meeting are posted on the GAPP website. The annual event, held at the Westin Seattle, concluded Monday with a record-breaking 250 industry representatives in attendance.  

In addition to Title Sponsors the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and Global Seas, GAPP would like to thank its other event sponsors: Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Alaska Ship Supply, Alaskan Observers, Inc, Aleutian-Pribilof Island Community Development Association, American Seafoods, Angulas Aguinaga, Aquamar, Arctic Storm Management Group, Baader, Beck Pack Systems, Central Bering Sea Fishermen Association, Clark Nuber, Coastal Villages Region Fund, Delta Western (NorthStar Energy), Diversified Communications, Eat Well Global, Fishermen’s News, Glacier Fish Company, Global Seafood Alliance, Golden Alaska Seafoods, Gorton’s, Grow Girl Seattle, High Liner Foods, Highland Refrigeration, HomeStreet Bank, Hospitality Performance Network Global, Islandsbanki, Ketchum, Key Bank, Lafferty’s EMS, McKinley Research, Net Your Problem, Northwest Farm Credit Services, Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Perkins Coie, Petro Marine, Port of Seattle, Resolve Marine, Restaurant Depot, Seafood 101, Seafood Nutrition Partnership, Simrad, Sysco Pacific NW, Trans-Ocean Products, Trident Seafoods, UniSea Inc., United Catcher Boats, Urner Barry, Wells Fargo, Wesmar Company, and Westward Seafoods.