Winners in the Best New Retail and Best New Foodservice Categories Honored with a Reception in Wave Makers’ Zone at the 43rd Edition of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America.
Portland, ME – Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, North America’s largest seafood trade event, produced by Diversified, announced the winners of the 2025 Seafood Excellence Awards and recognized the products with a reception in the Wave Makers’ Zone as part of the three-day expo taking place March 16-18 in Boston, MA. Icy Waters, LLC won the “Best New Retail Product” award for its Atlantic Salmon with a Guinness Sweet Honey Mustard Melt & Panko Crumb and American Unagi Inc. won the “Best New Foodservice Product” award for its Gluten Free Eel Kabayaki Fillet.
The 2025 winners were selected from a group of 11 finalists during a live judging this morning by a panel of seafood buyers and industry experts from the retail and foodservice industries. This year’s judges included Paul Chapman, VP of Seafood, Stop & Shop; Kimberly Price, Procurement Supervisor, C&S Wholesale Grocers; and Josue Avila, Sr. Procurement Category Manager, The Cheesecake Factory. The new products are judged 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 New Product Showcase features seafood products, condiments and culinary dishes that have been introduced in the past 18 months to the North American market and by companies exhibiting at this year’s expo. Each finalist’s product, and all other new products submitted for the competition, are on display in the Wave Makers’ Zone (booth #3165) through March 18.
View all the entries of the Seafood Excellence Awards.
The 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 awards are organized by Diversified, producers of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global and Seafood Expo Asia.
Seafood industry buyers and professionals can learn more about Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America and register to attend by visiting seafoodexpo.com/north-america.
About Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America
Seafood Expo North America/ Seafood Processing North America is North America’s largest seafood exposition. Thousands of buyers and suppliers from around the world attend the annual, three-day exhibition to meet, network and do business. Attending buyers represent importers, exporters, wholesalers, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, and other retail and foodservice companies. Exhibiting suppliers offer the newest seafood products, processing and packaging equipment, and services available in the seafood market. The exposition is sponsored by the National Fisheries Institute. SeafoodSource is the official media. The exposition is produced by Diversified, the international leader in seafood-industry expositions and media. For more information, visit: www.seafoodexpo.com/north-america.
About Diversified
Diversified is a global B2B events and media company that strengthens business communities by fostering a space, in person and online, for professionals and businesses to connect and grow. The company serves as a trusted partner across several industries including active lifestyle, business management, clean energy, commercial marine, healthcare, seafood, technology and more. The company’s global seafood portfolio of expositions and media includes Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, Seafood Expo Asia and SeafoodSource.com. Established in 1949 and headquartered in Portland, Maine, the global company has divisions and offices around the world in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Diversified is a third-generation, family-owned business. For more information, visit: www.divcom.com.
