Icy Waters and American Unagi took top prizes on March 16 during the 2025 Seafood Excellence Awards ceremony held in conjunction with the Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in Boston, Massachusetts.
Icy Waters won the Best New Retail Product Award for its sustainably sourced Atlantic Salmon featuring a Guinness Sweet Honey Mustard Melt & Panko Crumb. The Bedford, New Hampshire-based company collaborated with Good Fish Co. of Ireland to produce the offering, which boasts the distinctive taste of Guinness stout beer.
Highest accolades for Best New Foodservice Product went to American Unagi for its Gluten Free Eel Kabayaki Fillet. Utilizing glass eels that are raised without the use of added hormones or antibiotics, the Waldoboro, Maine-based company prides itself in buying directly from local fisherman who exclusively supply local river-sourced eel. The value-added production process includes hand selecting the fillets, which are then grilled with a gluten-free Kabayaki sauce.
The winners were selected from a group of 11 finalists during a live judging by a panel of seafood buyers and industry experts from the retail and foodservice industries. Judges included Paul Chapman, vice president of Seafood at the Stop & Shop supermarket chain; Kimberly Price, procurement supervisor at C&S Wholesale Grocers; and Josue Avila, senior procurement category manager at The Cheesecake Factory. The new products were evaluated based on several criteria, including uniqueness and appropriateness to the market, taste profile, market potential, convenience, nutritional value and originality.
Out of a total of 68 entries, 11 finalists were previously selected through a screening of market-ready products participating in the Seafood Expo North America New Product Showcase. The Showcase features seafood products, condiments and culinary dishes that have been introduced during the past 18 months to the North American market.
The annual Seafood Excellence Awards serves as the North American extension of the Seafood Excellence Global Awards competition, held at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain and the Seafood Excellence Asia Awards competition, held at Seafood Expo Asia in Singapore. All three events are organized by Diversified, producers of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global and Seafood Expo Asia.
