Sponsored by Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
Buoyed by increasing consumer demands for healthy and flavorful menu items, seafood is on the rise at restaurants across the dining industry.
Among restaurants that offer seafood, more than half (56%) say they expect sales to increase in the coming year, including 11% who expect sales to increase significantly, according to research from Nation’s Restaurant News and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Another 42% say they expect sales to be about the same or flat, with only 2% projecting a decrease in sales.
Seafood most often appears as a center-of-the-plate entrée, the research found, with 78% of full-service restaurants reporting that they offer seafood as a center-of-the-plate item. Slightly more than half (53%) of restaurants feature seafood items in their salad lineups, and 46% offer seafood appetizers.
Forty-four percent of operators menu sandwiches that contain seafood, and 39% menu other handheld entrées, such as burritos or tacos. Handheld seafood items were among the menu ideas that operators say they were most interested in offering in the future, with 30% expressing interest in seafood as a burger or sandwich, and 24% citing seafood burritos or tacos as items of potential interest.
For menu inspiration, consider these seafood taco recipes from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. They include a variety of globally influenced preparations, including Al Pastor Style Alaska Pollock Tacos, Korean BBQ Alaska Salmon Tacos, and The French—Pickled Mustard Seed Alaska Sole Tacos.
Other handheld seafood menu ideas include the Next Level Alaska King Salmon Burger with Alaska King Crab Mayo, and the Alaska Pollock Katsu Sandwich.
Globally inspired bowls
The fastest-growing seafood dishes on foodservice menus tend to be globally inspired, according to data from Technomic’s Ignite Menu platform. These include several sushi offerings, as well as seafood bowls, such as poke—the Hawaiian dish made with marinated, sushi-grade seafood usually served raw atop a bowl of rice with various veggies, and sauce.
Curry, another globally inspired bowl dish that can often include seafood, increased its menu penetration by nearly 7% in the last 12 months, the Technomic data found.
Seafood bowl recipes from ASMI include:
• Honey-Pom Red Pepper Wild Alaska Cod Quinoa and Lentil Bowl, can alternately be made with wild Alaska pollock, salmon, or halibut, and can also be baked in a tagine and served with freshly cooked squash, zucchini, or pumpkin.
• Cha Cha Poké Bowl can be prepared with Alaska surimi seafood, and feature a soy-based sauce and a base of greens tossed with lime juice and tequila.
• Caramelized Pineapple Adobo Wild Alaska Rockfish & Gingered Brown Rice Bowl, also features charred snap peas and a zesty pineapple sauce.
Chef Ann Kim of Young Joni and Kim’s also makes a Spicy Korean Fish Stew featuring Alaska sole.
“The Alaska sole is such a beautiful, delicate fish,” she says. “It’s mild in flavor, but excellent for sautéing, pan-frying, and what I love to do in this particular dish, is gently poach the fish.”
Because the other flavors in the stew are so bold, the balance of the delicate, flakey fish complements them perfectly, she says.
Asian-influenced appetizers like shumai and egg rolls also grew in menu penetration by more than 8% for the 12 months from the third quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023, according to Technomic data.
Appetizer ideas from chef Jordan Rubin of Mr. Tuna include Alaska Scallop Sashimi with Pickled Corn, Hazelnuts, and Miso Brown Butter Vinaigrette, or this Spicy Alaska Scallop & Surimi Lettuce Cups with Tobiko, Avocado, and Cucumber.
Innovating with seafood
Operators chose shrimp as the seafood variety they are most likely to innovate with as they develop new menu items, as cited by 71% of respondents to the NRN survey. Closely following shrimp is whitefish (a broad category that includes cod, pollock, and other similar fish) which was mentioned by 60% of operators, and salmon, which was cited by 58% of respondents.
A little more than half of limited-service operators (56%) say they offer fried seafood menu items, compared with 79% of full-service respondents and 70% of operators overall. All other preparation methods were cited by less than half of limited-service restaurants. By contrast, more than half of full-service operators report that they grill, sauté, or bake seafood items.
However you choose to prepare wild-caught Alaska seafood, ASMI has menu inspiration, recipe ideas, and other information to help you succeed in driving sales at your restaurant. Visit https://www.alaskaseafood.org/foodservice to learn more.