2024 Seafood Excellence Awards Winners Revealed at SENA

At Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America (SENA), Portland, Maine-based show producer Diversified Communications honored the winners of the 2024 Seafood Excellence Awards with an award presentation and a reception in the Wave Makers’ Zone on Sunday, March 10, the first day of the trade show. Highland Farms won the Best New Retail Product award for its Salmon Salami – earning a serenade from a kilted bagpiper – while Social Kitchens Professional/SK Foods Brands won the Best New Foodservice Product award for its Premium Shrimp Sliders.

The 2024 winners were chosen from among 11 finalists during a live judging the morning of March 10 by a panel of seafood buyers and industry experts from the retail and foodservice industries. This year's judges were Jason Driskill, VP, seafood at H-E-B; Bob Donegan, president of Ivar's Restaurants; and Robin Fisher, director of corporate purchasing at HF Foods Group. The products were judged according to such criteria as uniqueness and appropriateness to the market, taste profile, market potential, convenience, nutritional value and originality.

The program received a total of 70 entries, all of which were featured in the New Product Showcase. These were seafood products, condiments and culinary dishes introduced in the past 18 months to the North American market and by companies exhibiting at this year’s expo. Among the New Product Showcase items sampled by Progressive Grocer at the show were Aquamar’s Seafood Medley in Seafood Sauce, Acme Lox in a Box Snack Kits and Western Edge Seafood Lil’Haddies Battered Haddock Portions

The Seafood Excellence Awards program is the North American extension of the Seafood Excellence Global Awards competition, held at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain. In 2023, the Seafood Excellence Asia Awards debuted at the 11th edition of Seafood Expo Asia in Singapore. All three awards are organized by Diversified Communications, the producer of all three shows,

SENA is North America’s largest seafood exposition. The exposition is sponsored by the National Fisheries Institute. SeafoodSource is the official media. The trade show runs through March 12 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.