Industry news

Mowi child-friendly US frozen range on sale in Lidl, Target

Datetime：2020-08-19

It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a group of five new lightly breaded and frozen fish products that are being aimed at children and sold in such major retail chains in Europe and the US as Lidl and Target in connection with an animated series.

Norwegian salmon farming and processing giant Mowi has begun to promote its line of products under a new "Captain Omega" banner after first rolling them out quietly in April, according to Diana Dumet, the director of consumer products for Mowi Americas.

The first three products to be made available include cod pearls, fish nuggests and fish fries, all made from cod and/or pollock. Cod and salmon sliders are coming soon, and more products will be announced later, she said.

The products were developed and are being made in Mowi's processing facility in Lemmer Netherlands, which reports on its website to be the company's only plant in the Netherlands and a "coating specialist".It processes about 20 different fish species in a variety of formats, shapes and sizes into a wide range of products.

Dumet said the products are being shipped to a warehouse in Florida, where they can be easily distributed to other parts of the US.

Landing in both Lidl and Target is a god coup for Mowi.

Neckarsulm, Germany-based Lidl reportedly has 11,000 stores in 32 countries, the largest number of which are in Europe, though 95 are on the East Coast of the US. Minneapolis,Minnesota-based Target reports to have nearly 2,000 stores, most of which are in the US.

And Lidl is helping to promote.

"Before you do back-to-school shopping, consider adding more seafood to your grocery list. Captain Omega is the fin-tastic hero of the seas who offers healthy, affordable nourishment to kids," the department store chain offers on its Facebook page.

Also, two more retailers have agreed to sell the line, though Dumet declined to identify the companies.

The Mowi exec said the prodcts will come from Marine Stewardship Council-certified sources and the fish fries products will be made from Alaska-sourced pollock and cod. However, she was unable to clarify where fish was being sourced for the other products.

Dumet believes the new Mowi line will do well against the long list of frozen fish stick products already being sold by the likes of Gorton's, Mrs. Paul's and Trident Seafoods, A quick search of Target and Lidl websites found the Captain Omega products priced at $5.99 for 18 ounce offerings.

"This is truly the beginning of an introduction of a new capability that our company has," Dumet said. "With this kids' line, it responded to a clear need in the market. where you see parents trying to feed children healthier and differently, and we also want to build a larger consumption of seafood by starting them at an earlier age."

News Source: UCN