Food firms win salmon contract

PORTLAND — Two small companies, whose combined work force totals three people, have landed a $1.2 million contract to develop and market salmon products for an Alaska company.

Food Product Development of Portland and Seafood Management Co. of Falmouth will test, package and market new products like salmon chowder, salmon burgers, smoked and marinated salmon — maybe even salmon nuggets.

The contract was awarded this month by Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp. of Cordova, Alaska, a nonprofit fish hatchery established in 1974 to boost the salmon run in Alaskan waters.

The program has been so successful that Alaska fishermen are catching too many salmon in the Prince William Sound, driving down prices for the prized fish.

Fishermen this year have been getting 15 to 18 cents per pound for their catch, far below the norm of 35 to 40 cents per pound.

More than 70 percent of the catch is sold as canned salmon, and new markets are needed for the abundant catch, said Heather McCarty, marketing manager for Prince William Aquaculture.

Compared to Atlantic salmon caught and raised in ocean pens in Maine, the pink salmon from Alaska is smaller, lighter in color, less fatty and milder in flavor.

In the past two weeks, Seidel and Harris have convened two panels of food experts, ranging from supermarket executives to chefs and culinary instructors, to analyze the marketability of 65 salmon products.

Among those that didn’t make the grade were salmon pot pies and pickled salmon. The 15 that made the cut include smoked and marinated salmon, salmon salad chunks, salmon burgers, chowders and nuggets.

They will be tested on consumer taste panels, then cut to a final two or three products that will be packaged under a brand name and test-marketed in selected stores.