2023: Seafood Nabs the Spotlight for Easter Brunch

As those of you in food service know, Lent is one of the biggest seasons for seafood. The good news is that the love of seafood no longer ends on Good Friday. Increasingly, people are enjoying fish and other seafood options on Easter, especially for brunch. In fact, according to Seafood Source, an increasing number of food service outlets are going all out, offering special seafood promotions specifically for Easter.

It is easy to see why seafood is rapidly taking over the Easter brunch buffets nationwide when one looks at all the advantages it offers from a food service operator’s perspective:

Appearance. “The eyes sometimes have it, beating out the tongue, nose, and brain in the emotional and biochemical balloting that determines the taste and allure of food,” reports Science Daily. And few things dress up a restaurant buffet table like seafood—grilled shrimp, braised branzino with lemon, crisp, lightly dusted calamari with a spicy marinara sauce. The endless options add a touch of color and a definitive holiday feel, leaving customers with a memory of top-quality offerings.

Taste. Seafood lends itself to almost any ethnic cuisine imaginable—from Italian and Indian to Mexican and Polynesian and everything in between. A single seafood source can be fixed in infinite ways, providing diners with a plethora of taste sensations.

Cost. Seafood’s ability to shine in such a vast array of recipes allows restaurants to offer an impressive variety of brunch options with minimal additional costs. Adding quality seafood to the table makes customers feel they got their money’s worth. Both sides of the coin are increasingly important during these inflationary times.

Speed. Historically, Easter brunches appeal to hungry diners. With quality frozen seafood that can be prepared in as little as minutes, you don’t have to worry about running out and disappointing potentially regular customers.

Spoilage. Pulling out the seafood you need when you need it eliminates the spoilage associated with fresh seafood. And how fresh is “fresh” seafood after it sits on shipping vessels before being delivered and prepared, then transported to its final destination—often hundreds of miles away? Quality, flash-frozen seafood is often the fresher option.

Traditional complements. Offering seafood doesn’t mean you have to stop serving more traditional Easter fare. Far from it. Rather, seafood can be served as delicious side dishes or incorporated into Easter favorites. Think seafood quiches and omelets or a tasty shrimp topping for ham.

Labor. Seafood’s fast, easy preparation and cooking times make it easy for even novice chefs to create Easter dishes with minimal training and speed, giving them time to spend on other much-needed brunch activities.

Health. Many brunch-goers envision spring as a time to get healthier. In fact, according to one recent study, people naturally eat fewer calories in spring than at other times of the year. This leaves many diners looking for lighter, healthier, delicious fare on the brunch table. Few items can fit the bill like seafood, which is packed with vitamins, minerals, and protein and low in calories. Those determined to keep eating healthier will likely remember your tasty offerings, making it wise to keep best-selling seafood options on the menu year-round.

There’s no better year than 2023 to add healthy, cost-effective, and tasty seafood to your Easter brunch menu. You and your customers will be glad you did!