St. Simons Island, Georgia, U.S.A.-based frozen seafood supplier SeaPak, a division of Rich Products Corp., is invested in marketing its breaded shrimp products to children across the U.S.
To accomplish this goal, the company gained approval for a new seafood-related holiday and is partnering with special and visual effects company Jim Henson's Creature Shop as part of a national marketing campaign.
The “Even the Pickiest Pick SeaPak” campaign is a fun way to “highlight the quality and superior taste of the brand’s products while also building trust among parents,” Rich Products Vice President of Product Marketing within the Protein Category Ciera Womack told SeafoodSource. "Through fun, engaging otter characters and a memorable branded mnemonic, SeaPak aims to break through the category clutter and increase recall in the freezer aisle.”
More specifically, SeaPak is aiming to gain recognition and increase sales of some of its “kid-approved favorites” such as Classic Popcorn Shrimp and Crunchy Shrimp Poppers, the company said.
To generate buzz about the campaign during Lent, SeaPak established National Picky Eaters Day, the inaugural celebration of which will take place 4 April.
Up to 59 percent of children can be classified as “picky eaters,” meaning they eat a limited variety of foods and are resistant to trying new ones, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
When SeaPak surveyed 2,000 parents of school-aged children via market research firm Talker Research, it found that parents spend an average of 67 hours a year negotiating with picky eaters and 26 percent of picky eaters who were picky eaters as children still identify with that label, according to Womack.
However, 32 percent of parents surveyed said their kids never say no to shrimp (32 percent) or fish sticks (31 percent), according to Womack.
"This told us that there was an untapped opportunity to turn a traditionally negative label into something worth celebrating. Our team researched existing national holidays and realized there wasn’t a specific holiday tied to picky eating – much less a holiday celebrating and supporting picky eaters,” Womack said. "We knew that SeaPak could fill that gap by sharing the new insights we gathered in our consumer survey around picky eating and positioning seafood as the perfect gateway to trying new flavors, textures, and types of cuisine.”
In partnership with National Today, a platform that helps establish and promote unique U.S. national holidays, SeaPak created a curated landing page for the new day of celebration to “help picky eaters everywhere celebrate themselves with helpful tips, survey insights, and plenty of fun,” Womack said.
“Our holiday listing will include extensive and exciting holiday history, exclusive money-saving deals, surprising facts, and fascinating survey data to help America better understand its picky eaters,” she said.
The company also partnered with advertising agency EP+Co and Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which was founded in 1979 by the creator of “The Muppets,” to create a marketing campaign starring The Otterfords, a family of lovable sea otter puppets “who know all too well what it's like to have a picky eater at the table,” the company said.
"With The Otterfords, our Even the Pickiest Pick SeaPak campaign, and National Picky Eaters Day, we're giving parents a lighthearted way to connect with their kids about trying new foods and showing that seafood is something even picky eaters will pick,” Womack said.
It is also important to encourage children to eat more seafood because there is a “significant gap” between recommended seafood intake and actual consumption, according to Womack.
A 2019 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that seafood consumption among U.S. children has declined annually since 2007 and around 80 percent to 90 percent of Americans do not meet the recommended seafood intake outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which advise eating two servings per week, according to Analyses of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
While Womack declined to say whether the company is developing additional kid-focused products, she noted that the category will continue to be a priority for the brand.
“Since parents are typically the ones making purchasing decisions, we focus on developing new flavors and formats that appeal to them while ensuring our classic favorites … continue to be a hit with younger seafood enthusiasts,” she said.
