Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | R | Restaurants & Institutions

Open water: interest in healthful eating, greater availability of seafood and countless preparations present vast opportunities to reel in guests.

Article Excerpt
The tide for seafood is high, bringing greater availability and more choices to satisfy diners who are hooked.

With its healthful profile and protein-packed attributes, seafood dodges the anti-carbohydrate trend and has benefited from growing interest in sound nutrition over the last few years. Because seafood plays prominently in most ethnic cuisines, fish, shellfish and other ocean fare are rising in prominence.

"We see seafood as our concept of the future," says Cameron Mitchell, president and CEO of the Columbus, Ohio-based multiconcept company that bears his name. Its steakhouses and Martini Italian Bistro concept are viable operations, but expansion is focused on Mitchell's Fish Market in cities such as Tampa, Miami and Milwaukee. "People for years have enjoyed seafood but there is an art to doing it well," Mitchell says.

Seafood has become so popular with diners that even the unlikeliest concepts net benefits. At Glendale, Calif.-based IHOP, Never Ending Popcorn Shrimp increased sales by 15% in the first week of a limited-time promotion started in September. For $7.99, customers are served unlimited deep-fried shrimp nuggets accompanied by french fries and a choice of classic cocktail sauce or spicy dipping sauce.

It's no wonder that shrimp continues its hold as the most consumed seafood, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The most recent NOAA figures also show that seafood consumption is up 7.1%, with Americans consuming 4.5 billion pounds annually.

"Consumers are comfortable with seafood and they know more about it," says Joe Massa, whose family has been in the restaurant business for 60 years. "They know that seafood can be healthier for them and that when it's fresh and prepared correctly, there's nothing quite like it."

At Massa's and Massa's Seafood Grill in Houston, guests demonstrate deeper knowledge. "A few years ago, people were not asking whether fish was wild or whether the tuna is sushi grade. Today our customers want to know."

GETTING GRILLED

Operators report that demand for seafood is...