Live From IBSS: Seafood Excellence Awards Winners Revealed

The 2013 Seafood Excellence Awards winners were revealed on March 10, the opening day of the International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS). St. Mary’s River Smokehouses of Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia earned the Best New Retail award for its Oven Smoked Salmon Stix, and Baltimore-based Phillips Foods Inc. took the Best New Foodservice award for its Culinary Crab. The awards recognize product leaders in the North American seafood market.

Winners were chosen from a group of finalists during a live judging by a panel of seafood buyers and experts from the retail and foodservice industries. Among this year’s judges were Kim Taylor, seafood category manager for Salisbury, N.C.-based Delhaize America; Sunil Contractor, finfish category manager for US Foods of Rosemont, Ill.; and David Bolosan, director of product innovation for the Black Angus Steakhouse restaurant chain, which is based in Los Altos, Calif.

Finalists were selected through a screening of products taking part in the 2013 IBSS New Product Showcase. The showcase features seafood products, condiments and culinary dishes launched in the past year by exhibiting companies.

Co-located with Seafood Processing America and running through March 12, the IBSS is North America’s largest seafood trade event, attracting 19,000 buyers and sellers from more than 100 countries, and more than 1,000 exhibiting companies. The events are produced by Portland, Maine-based Diversified Business Communications.