Seafood importer Supreme Crab & Seafood is expanding beyond its foodservice roots and into the CPG space by leveraging its globally integrated supply chain, seafood innovations and sustainability initiatives to differentiate itself in a category increasingly challenged by market demands for sourcing transparency.
The Florida-based company imports seafood from Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Canada and Chile. Its vertically integrated business model includes processing plants and fishing operations in Indonesia, according to Troy Turkin, CEO and COO of Supreme Crab & Seafood, during the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City last month.
The company has historically focused on foodservice customers, including Sysco, Performance Food Group and other distributors, but is now looking to expand its retail presence, Turkin said. This year marked Supreme’s first time exhibiting at the Summer Fancy Food Show.
“We’re kind of behind the scenes and have been. So now we just wanted to do a show and see how it goes,” Turkin said.
Supreme’s core business is blue swimming crab, with expansion into red swimming crab, deep-sea crab, snow crab and other seafood products, Turkin explained.
Product innovation simplifies crab preparation for foodservice and retail
Crab meat extraction remains a painstaking, labor-intensive process that relies heavily on skilled workers, Alfredo Kann, director of sales for Supreme Crab & Seafood, explained.
“When you pick a crab, you have about an hour to literally get all the jumbo lump [meat] out,” he said.
Supreme’s operational control has enabled the company to focus on product innovation for both foodservice and retail customers. Rather than requiring chefs to mix different grades of crab meat themselves, the company developed a packaged Blue Swimming Crab Meat product that mimics the natural yield of a single crab.
“We combined it into one can. So there’s a layer of jumbo lump, there’s a layer of claw, and in between are the other sizes,” Kann said, describing what he called a “crab cake-ready” can that simplifies preparation while preserving quality.
Pasteurization extends shelf life for premium crab products
Supreme’s innovation strategy also extends to processing and preservation. The company’s deep-sea crab is sourced from Chile and its snow crab from Canada before being hand-picked in Indonesia.
Through pasteurization, the company significantly extends the refrigerated shelf life of its crab products.
“If somebody wants the long shelf life that pasteurization provides, we now have a deep-sea crab that people can use,” Kann said.
The process allows some products to remain refrigerated for more than a year.
“This can have over a year shelf life and be in somebody’s refrigerator,” Kann added.
Supreme Crab balances sustainability goals with certification challenges
As the seafood industry faces increasing pressure to demonstrate responsible and transparent sourcing practices, Supreme is balancing sustainability goals with marketplace realities.
Its Canadian snow crab products carry Marine Stewardship Council certification, while its swimming crab products participate in industry-led Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs).
“We contribute three cents of every pound towards that fishery improvement program,” Kann said, adding that Supreme is working to hold its fisheries to the same benchmarks promoted by third-party certification organizations.
However, certification remains a complex issue within the seafood industry, particularly as retailers often favor different programs.
“We made the decision not to seek any one certification because some retailers are using one certifying body in one area, and then they won’t accept anything else,” Kann said.
According to Kann, the company instead supports broader fishery improvement efforts while attempting to meet retailer and consumer expectations around sustainability and responsible sourcing.
