Spotlight: Food & Beverage

American Pride Seafoods Hooks Up With Disney to Create a Line of Fun, Frozen Fish

When Disney approached American Pride Seafoods at the Food Marketing Institute show in May of 2004, American Pride heard the sound of opportunity knocking. The Disney Consumer Products division had been looking to expand opportunities in frozen foods, but they wanted to make sure their product would hit the right notes as far as health and quality were concerned.

American Seafoods Group is one of the world's leading companies in the harvesting, processing, preparation, and supply of quality seafood. The American Pride Seafoods brand is one of North America's premier seafood suppliers. Disney is, well, Disney. Representatives of the two companies hit it off right away, and by November a long-term contract was signed. The two companies introduced a new retail line of frozen seafood products featuring four of Disney's most popular characters.

The four Disney-themed boxes are new products for American Pride, and part of a semi-permanent licensing agreement with Disney Consumer Products. The products, which feature Mickey Mouse, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, and Lilo and Stitch, debuted this winter at retail outlets nationwide. The respective product names are Cheddar Treasures, Dip Seas Dooz, Pirate Planks, and Pizza Fins.

Disney-quality seafood

All four varieties are made from premium quality Alaska Pollock fillets, an "Excellent Source of Protein" as the package says. The quality seafood garners a premium price at retail, however, so the appeal of the Disney name and Disney characters is integral to reinforcing the premium presentation.

American Seafoods Group's large, specially designed catcher-harvester-processor vessels are equipped to process and freeze all the seafood they catch within three hours of harvesting, ensuring maximum freshness. Compared to standard breaded fish nuggets and sticks, the Disney line of frozen nuggets are made with considerably more fish and less breading, resulting in very favorable nutritional value.

The smiling Disney characters frolic over real photos of the actual frozen seafood products inside, which are high-quality Alaskan pollock nuggets.

The association of protein and less breading with healthiness was a very important aspect for Disney, to be assured that the Disney reputation was associated with a product that cared for kids' nutrition. The package does not brag about "less breading," letting the real photographs of the cooked product attempt to convey the quality of the product. Interestingly, two of the boxes show a "Serving Suggestion" with little more than a glimpse at a dipping sauce.

Under, and over, the sea

The graphic and brand architecture is very similar on each of the four boxes, with well-defined "homes" for each of the elements. The American Pride logo is actually smaller and less prominent than the Disney logo. As for sea themes, three of the action scenes on the front panel occur under the water, and one over the water. A curvy line constitutes the left border of the action scene, separating a consistent blue field for the product name to live on.

"We are honored to be partnering with such a world renowned and respected brand as the Walt Disney Company," said Randy Rhodes, senior vice president, chief sales and marketing officer of American Pride Seafoods. "This represents Disney's first frozen seafood product sold at retail, and we are excited about being chosen as Disney's partner in this new venture."

American Pride Seafoods worked closely with Disney Consumer Products to help design and manage the production and printing of the retail packaging, as well as developing the product names for the four new products, Rhodes said. "They have their standards, and they have their formats," he explains. The wholly cooperative effort led to careful creation of the action scenes to portray the Disney characters in poses consistent with their familiar personalities.

"American Pride has been an exceptional partner not only in setting new standards for our creative packaging, but also to ensure the product quality lives up to the Disney brand," said Louis Keyes, vice president of Global FMCG, Disney Consumer Products. "They have exceeded our expectations."