Supermarket Perimeter - March 2019 - 46

Seafood: Poke

Grocery perimeter suppliers ride the wave

46 - MARCH 2019

Retailers pick up their games
The newest store from Seattle-based chain Metropolitan
Market, located in Sammanish, Washington, is big on
innovation.
The first suburban store for Met Market, it's 10,000
square feet larger than the average size of its other six
stores and includes a coffee bar, a quick-service bakery
and artisanal gelato.
Its retail foodservice options feature include a wide
variety of cuisines - including a poke bar. The bar
includes several fresh seafood varieties and toppings to
build the ultimate poke bowl.
San Francisco-based Bi-Rite Market, meanwhile, offers
poke bowls in its prepared foods to-go section that bear
the store's Bi-Rite label and are made on-site.
And since they were introduced in the sushi departments of Woodbury, Minnesota-based Kowalski's
Markets stores in 2014, poke bowls have enjoyed enormous growth, says Jenny Mahoney, deli director of the
11-store gourmet chain.

HISSHO, ASMI

Sushi specialist Hissho
has expanded its
reach into poke.

/poe-kay/

Grocery retailers and their suppliers are among those
riding the poke wave.
The Juneau-based Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute,
in conjunction with Chef Kathy Casey, recently developed an Alaska Aloha Poke Bowl, available to both
retailers and restaurants to help them take advantage of
the poke boom, says Emily Gisler, the institute's domestic marketing coordinator.
Most recently, the bowl was featured in a cross-merchandising promotion with Kona beer.
Other poke bowl concoctions from the institute and
Casey include Alaska Sockeye Salmon Poke and Alaska
Crab Surimi bowls.
Poke, Gisler says, continues to be a popular menu item
in retail and foodservice across the U.S.
"Poke featuring Alaska surimi seafood allows retailers
to take advantage of the growth of prepared foods at
the deli counter," she says. "Poke appeals to consumers
looking for healthier and tastier prepared options."
Poke featuring Alaska surimi seafood in particular
holds well, has a great profit margin and, because it's not
raw, has no food safety issues, Gisler says.
Suppliers including Fall River, Massachusetts-based
Blount Fine Foods are tapping into the surging demand
for poke with new products. In 2018, Blount introduced a poke bowl as one of its new line of noodle and
rice bowls.
It easily outperformed the company's sales expectations in its first six months, and Bob Sewall, Blount's
executive vice president of sales and marketing, expects
continued growth, as Blount takes advantage of its
customers' longing not only for international flavors but
convenience and snack items.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Hissho Sushi is of
course best known for the sushi it sells in grocery
instore prepared foods departments throughout
the U.S.
But Hissho has also ventured
into the poke category, with poke
bowl varieties including Classic
Hawaiian, Mango Salmon and
Blazing Dragon.
Hissho's poke begins with a
base of its signature seaweed
salad. Then chefs add diced
spicy tuna tossed in sesame oil
and finish it off with scallions.
Introduced in 2017, the line has
been so successful, Hissho plans
to introduce two new flavors later
this year.

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Supermarket Perimeter - March 2019

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