Trying New Seafood: Taste & Textures

Sometimes, trying new foods can be intimidating. What helps make it a little less scary is knowing exactly what to expect. So, we’re helping you get ready to dive into some delicious new seafood by giving you the details on the taste and texture of each one of the species we offer.

Argentine Red Shrimp are known for their ruby, red coloring. They’re also larger than the average shrimp with a sweet, rich, buttery taste similar to that of lobster.

Cape Hake is a white-flesh fish that is similar to a cod or pollock fish. It has a soft, flaky texture and a mild flavor. It’s versatile in recipes, but it’s the perfect catch for a breaded or battered fish fry dish.

Chilean Sea Bass is one of the richest fish in the sea. It’s a decadent fish with a gorgeous pearl white color that features a rich, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture, a sweet yet mild flavor, and large, moist flakes.

Mahi Mahi has a stunning pinkish coloring that pales towards white as it cooks. It has a mild, sweet flavor and a semi-firm texture with large, moist flakes.

Spanish Octopus turns a beautiful dark purple color once cooked. It has a firm, meaty texture with a mild, semi-sweet flavor. Octopus is often prepared by char-grilling giving it a crunchy, smoky bite.

Salmon is the second most consumed seafood in America, lead by shrimp and followed by tuna. It’s known for its stunning pinkish orange coloring. It has a medium-firm, oily texture with large flakes and a mild flavor.

Silverside are small fish that don’t grow over five inches in length. They are similar to a smelt or sardine with their semi-firm texture and oily flavor.

Shrimp is the most consumed seafood in America, and the leading type of shrimp consumed is the Vannamei Shrimp or white shrimp. They are named for their cloudy white color when raw that transforms to a lovely pink and white color once cooked. Vannamei shrimp are incredibly versatile in recipes. They have a firm texture and a mild taste.

If you’re ready to try some new seafood in your diet, look to our recipe page for some inspiration on some tested and chef-approved dishes our team has already developed for each species that you can make at home!

Pescanova USA Retail Line Expansion

Boost Seafood Sales with Pescanova’s Value-Added Shrimp and Protein Pasta

Pescanova helps retailers satisfy demand for convenient, time-saving meal solutions.  

Pescanova USA is proud to expand its value-added, ready-to-cook seafood products in retail. The expanded portfolio includes Toss & Serve Shrimp, Protein Pasta made from wild Alaska Pollock, Shrimp Skewers and Shrimp Skillet Meals. From flavorful, ready-to-cook shrimp to protein pasta, Pescanova meets consumer demand for convenient solutions to make mealtime easy.

“We understand today’s consumers want easy, time-saving meal solutions, which is why we’re excited to be expanding our ready-to-cook seafood offerings on-shelf,” said Chris Maze, president and CEO of Pescanova USA. “This year, we’ll be launching a protein pasta made from wild Alaska Pollock for consumers seeking better-for-you pasta alternatives. We’ll also be introducing Shrimp Skillet Meals that include pasta and veggies for a quick and easy meal solution.”

For consumers looking for a complete meal kit, Pescanova is introducing a line of frozen Shrimp Skillet Meals featuring responsibly sourced shrimp, vegetables, traditional pasta and chef-developed sauces. The flavorful Shrimp Skillets are slated to launch this spring in three flavors, including Shrimp with Pesto, Broccoli and Linguini, Shrimp with Tomato Feta Sauce & Rotini and Shrimp with Mediterranean-Style Scampi & Spaghetti.

Pescanova is also introducing a line of Shrimp Skewers featuring responsibly sourced shrimp marinated in bold gourmet sauces like Garlic Butter, Sweet & Spicy and Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. Perfect for summer grilling promotions, the Shrimp Skewers come raw and cook in less than 10 minutes.

Pescanova has also launched a Protein Pasta made from responsibly caught, MSC-certified wild Alaska Pollock. Pescanova has partnered with Genuine Alaska Pollack Producers (GAPP) to promote the benefits of high-quality wild Alaska Pollock that is both sustainable and traceable. Pescanova Protein Pasta is a gluten-free, low-carb pasta alternative that delivers the great taste and texture of traditional pasta with the naturally nutritious benefits of seafood. This fully-cooked, flavorful pasta heats up in just 2 minutes and contains only 70 calories per serving to satisfy consumers looking for easy meal solutions that align with their diet. Pescanova Protein Pasta is available in three flavors, including Garlic Basil, Lemon Pepper and Tomato Basil.

Pescanova Toss & Serve Shrimp features responsibly sourced shrimp in a convenient, heat & serve format. The frozen, pre-sauced shrimp cooks in just 8 minutes for a fast and flavorful meal any time of day. Toss & Serve Shrimp is available in three flavors, including Shrimp with Salted Butter and Garlic Sauce, Shrimp with Citrus Herb Sauce and Shrimp with Chipotle Sea Salt Sauce.

Whether your customers are reluctant to cook fresh seafood from scratch or are just looking for convenient, time-saving solutions, Pescanova provides easy-to-prepare, restaurant-worthy meals in minutes. From pre-sauced Toss & Serve Shrimp and Shrimp Skewers to flavorful Protein Pasta and complete Shrimp Skillet Meals, Pescanova’s value-added seafood solutions can help attract customers and boost sales.

Click here to view all our retail products or click here to contact the sales team.

SENA 2023

Pescanova USA Showcases New Seafood Products at SENA
Visit Booth #1021 for a first-look at Pescanova’s expanded product portfolio including value-added shrimp, Cape Hake, and Protein Pasta made with wild Alaska Pollock.

Pescanova USA is proud to showcase its new expanded portfolio of retail and foodservice seafood products at Seafood Expo North America on March 12-14 in Boston, MA. The expanded portfolio includes Protein Pasta made from wild Alaska Pollock, Shrimp Skewers, Complete Shrimp Skillet Meals, Toss & Serve Shrimp, Argentine Red Shrimp and Cape Hake. From flavorful, ready-to-cook shrimp to protein pasta, Pescanova meets demand for flavorful, on-trend seafood products that are responsibly sourced.

“We have a lot of exciting product launches to share this year at SENA,” said Chris Maze, president and CEO of Pescanova USA. “With the booming demand for seafood in convenient formats and a growing category of pasta alternatives, it’s the perfect time to showcase our expanded portfolio of products that satisfy consumers seeking time-saving meal solutions and operators looking for seafood innovation and labor-saving formats.”

Stop by Pescanova booth #1021 for a first-look (and taste) of these exciting new products:

  • Shrimp Skillet Meals featuring shrimp, vegetables, traditional pasta and chef-developed sauces (retail)
  • Shrimp Skewers marinated in bold gourmet sauces (retail)
  • Toss & Serve Shrimp featuring flavorful pre-sauced shrimp (retail)
  • Protein Pasta made from wild Alaska Pollock (retail & foodservice)
  • Wild-Caught Cape Hake in pre-cut portions and fillets (foodservice)

Whether you’re seeking high-quality responsibly sourced seafood, convenient time-saving solutions or innovative new formats, Pescanova offers a variety of premium wild caught and farm-raised seafood products to meet your individual needs and the needs of your customers.

Visit booth #1021 to meet our team, taste our delicious new offerings and learn more about how Pescanova can help your business. To schedule an on-site interview, click here to contact the sales team.

The Nueva Pescanova Foundation hosts the Global Sustainable Seafood Galicia Forum

● The event, to be held in Vigo on April 24th, aims to lead the dialogue on the sustainability of seafood products at international level from Galicia
● This is the first action promoted by the Nueva Pescanova Foundation, a new entity created with the aim of contributing to the sustainable development of the seafood industry

The Nueva Pescanova Foundation, recently created to contribute to the sustainable development of the seafood industry, is organizing the Global Sustainable Seafood Galicia Forum (GSSG Forum). The forum, which will take place on April 24th at Afundación’s headquarters in Vigo, aims to lead the dialogue on seafood sustainability at an international level from Galicia.


The GSSG Forum will bring together the leading voices in the industry and provide a global vision of the commitments, demands, challenges and opportunities that are currently shaping the sustainability of seafood products in environmental, social, and economic terms. The program will be structured around a series of conferences, round tables and discussion forums focusing on three thematic areas: Sustainability and Traceability, 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Finance.


Representatives from associations, seafood value chain organizations, researchers and leading companies in the industry will discuss the current state and future of the industry. In particular, the event will include contributions from spokespersons of the United Nations, the GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability), the GSSI (Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative), the Fish Standard for Crew Certification, the European Fish Processors Association and the European Federation of National Organizations of Importers and Exporters of Fish (AIPCE – CEP), CEPESCA, Abanca Mar, the Nueva Pescanova Group, IBM Consulting, the Puerto of Celeiro Group, Seafoodmatter, AquaSpark, COFIDES, the Organisation of Associated Producers of Large Tuna Freezers (OPAGAC/AGAC), the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the University of Santiago de Compostela, among others.


Ángel Matamoro, Director of the GSSG Forum, explains that: “Galicia has a strong link with the sea both economically and socially. By organizing this forum, we seek to establish a venue for the main players in the industry and to lead, from here, the global discussion on the advances and challenges that still lie ahead in terms of sustainability”.


The GSSG Forum is supported by the Xunta de Galicia, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the Nueva Pescanova Group and Abanca. Participation is free of charge, subject to prior registration on the event’s website.


About the Nueva Pescanova Foundation
The Nueva Pescanova Foundation is a non-profit organization created by the Nueva Pescanova Group and declared of Galician interest by the Xunta de Galicia. Its objective is to contribute to the sustainable development of the seafood industry and to promote, develop and implement any initiative that contributes to sustainability in its social, environmental, and economic aspects in relation to fishing, aquaculture, processing and marketing activities. It will also promote R&D and dissemination in the seafood industry.


The Foundation’s Board of Trustees is chaired by José María Benavent, with José Rodríguez serving as secretary, and Ángel Matamoro and Javier Carral as trustees.


Through this entity, the Nueva Pescanova Group wishes to take a further step in its commitment to the protection and conservation of the oceans and seas, through actions aimed at promoting the sustainable use of natural resources, the health and productivity of ecosystems and the contribution of value to the environment in which it operates.

Nueva Pescanova Group and Microsoft consolidate their partnership to continue advancing aquaculture 4.0

Article taken from: Nueva Pescanova

•The two companies are extending their agreement to continue advancing the digitization of farming through the use of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data technologies
•Thanks to this joint collaboration, the world’s first smart shrimp farm has been launched

The Nueva Pescanova Group and Microsoft have renewed the partnership initiated in 2021 to continue advancing digitization of aqua farms through the use of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data technologies. The joint collaboration developed over the last two years has resulted in the creation of the world’s first intelligent aquaculture farm for Vannamei shrimp (Smart Farm), and with this new agreement, both companies will continue to promote the efficiency and sustainability of these farms.The extension of the partnership was formalized today during a ceremony held at Microsoft’s offices in Spain, attended by Alberto Granados, President of Microsoft España, José María Benavent, President of the Nueva Pescanova Group, and Ignacio González, CEO of the Nueva Pescanova Group, among others. José María Benavent, President of the Nueva Pescanova Group, said: “During this period of collaboration, we have not only managed to digitise our farms to make them more efficient and sustainable, but we have also created a new concept of smart aqua farm that is a global benchmark. The synergies we have created with our technology partner have led us to extend this partnership to continue to shape the aquaculture of the future together”. For his part, Alberto Granados, President of Microsoft España, stressed that “the project with Nueva Pescanova is very relevant and inspiring because the application of Artificial Intelligence has had a clear positive impact on both production and the environment in the Vannamei shrimp farms. It is important to continue to focus on responsible AI, and now even more so with the implementation of generative AI, which opens up infinite new possibilities”.

An agreement until 2024

The Aquaculture 4.0 project began at the Group’s sustainable shrimp farms in Ecuador, where 688 ponds have been digitized using nearly 870 sensors, 1,300 hydrophones and 2,500 feeders to provide better information on the activity and control 100% of the processes automatically and in real time through the Smart Farm solution, which includes up to 47 predictive models based on Artificial Intelligence. Accordingly, environmental and consumption patterns were determined so that the automatic feeding stations place the ideal ration of food in the water according to the actual demand, maximizing the species’ welfare and the productivity. As a result, the Nueva Pescanova Group has improved its production in Ecuador, increased the accuracy of its farming forecasts by 90-95% and reduced response times to incidents by up to 80%. Similarly, and following the success in Ecuador, where more than 100 users are using the Smart Farm solution on a regular basis, the company has already moved forward with the implementation of the Aquaculture 4.0 project in its aquaculture farms in Nicaragua and Guatemala, and will be training a further 150 workers in new digital skills and will help attract highly qualified talent, such as industrial engineers and IT specialists, in these countries where the digital talent gap is high.The aim of the partnership until 2024 is to improve the efficiency and sustainability of these farms, facilitate business forecasting, guarantee food traceability and improve animal health and welfare, all by extending the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and Big Data to other areas of the value chain. In this context, the two companies have set themselves the challenge of laying the foundations of the hyper-connected industrial model (digital factory) in the Group this year, with the target of developing a first project at its plant in Ecuador during 2024.This new agreement has three main objectives. The first is to improve Artificial Intelligence models to maximize the use of collected data to increase efficiency and production capacity. The second objective focuses on implementing Smart Farm principles at all levels to improve processes throughout the organization. Finally, both companies will work on optimizing quality forecasting using Artificial Intelligence. To this end, two pilot lines have already been launched to develop predictive models for the quality of biomass in plants and to detect problems using images, which will increase production and the quality of the harvest.

Protein Pasta Wins Progressive Grocer Award

We are thrilled to announce that our Pescanova Protein Pasta made from Wild Alaska Pollock was chosen as one of the award winners for Progressive Grocer’s Editor’s Pick for Best New Products of 2023. You can view all of the award winners here.

Our Protein Pasta made from Wild Alaska Pollock is available in three delicious flavors: Garlic Basil, Lemon Pepper, and Tomato Basil. It’s a gluten-free, fully cooked pasta that you can prepare in just 2 minutes. It boasts only 60-70 calories and 7-9g carbs per serving while still delivering 8-9g protein! You prepare our innovative pasta alternative just like a typical pasta by adding your favorite sauces, vegetables, and other proteins. Learn more about our Protein Pasta made from Wild Alaska Pollock here or find it in the refrigerated section of select retailers near you.