It’s been nearly two years since Chilean salmon producer Multiexport Foods introduced its new smoked product line under the brand Latitude 45.
And like much of the rest of the smoked salmon market in the United States, the brand is flourishing, according to the company.
“The product has exceed our expectations this year,” Jason Paine, general manager with Miami-based Multiexport Foods, told IntraFish.
In 2019, the company plans to expand Latitude 45’s product options and boost its presence in US retail stores.
The company’s six-ounce Cold Smoked Salmon Loin has been a standout this year among consumers, he said. It’s done so well that the brand is planning to release a 10-ounce version.
“Most smoked salmon is cut on a silk cut, and this is cut more in the Japanese style; it’s a guillotine cut,” he said. “The six-ounce cuts are more like sashimi and are really easy to handle. You get a lot of slices to work with, and they’re great to put on crackers, mix with a poke bowl; the applications are endless with the product.”
Latitude 45 kicked off 2018 with Michigan-based supermarket Meijer adding the brand to its portfolio. The six-ounce smoked salmon loin currently retails for $6.99 (€6.14) on Meijer’s website.
Latitude 45 is also looking at creating an eight-ounce version of its hot smoked salmon roasted flakes.
The price points for the brand are aggressive at the retail level, Paine said, which is helping drive sales.
The Patagonia allure
One thing is clear from perusing Latitude 45’s social media platforms–the brand is largely tied to Patagonia’s majestic mountains, sweeping glacial fjords and pristine waters. Many of the Latitude 45’s social media posts show jaw-dropping views of the region.
Embed: Latitude 45 Facebook video of Patagonia
“That it’s from Patagonia is absolutely one of things we want to relay to consumers because people want to know where their food is coming from,” Paine said.
Sustainability as well as freshness are also important messages for the brand, with all of Latitude 45’s products being 4-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certified.
“Our smoked salmon starts in one of our hatcheries and then grows out in one of our 25-plus salmon sites, and then it’s processed and smoked in our state-of-the-art plant within 24 hours of coming out of the water,” he said.
Multiexport, which has been producing smoked salmon for the US market since 2003, wanted the brand’s packaging to be less stuffy than other brands.
“We just wanted a real clean look,” Paine said. “Most of the packaging in this category seems a little old, dated and very traditional. We wanted something that popped on the shelf and highlighted the product. We try to show as much product as we can in our packaging.”
And, of course, it’s the Millennials who are helping to increase consumption of smoked salmon in the United States, according to Paine. Which is why the company has focused on marketing new salmon pairings, such as seacuterie boards (a play on charcuterie but with salmon).
Embed: Latitude 45 Seacuterie board
For Hanukkah, the brand featured several innovative latke recipes in December.
“Holidays sales have been good,” he said. “The next two weeks are our biggest weeks, and we’ve been pleased with what we are seeing right now.”
Beyond the bagel
With so much interest in the product coming from Millennial, the company is looking beyond more traditional promotions during the holidays and Lent as it heads into 2019.
“We’re doing seasonal-type features for healthy lifestyles for the New Year’s resolutions in January,” he said. “For Valentine’s Day, we will do some type of promotion. We’re building that calendar. We’re tying in social media efforts with in-store promotions and coupons to really keep pace with demand and focus on double digit sales increases year on year.,” Paine said.