Selling through COVID - A solid partnership between restaurant and seafood supplier made the difference

A glimmer of good news for food service operators across the country recently came from a great collaboration between Snappers Fish & Chicken and Harvest of The Sea. Snappers, a Miami-based, multi-unit chain in downtown Miami with a quick-serve, takeout service model had actually seen sales increase in the past five months but was challenged by how to create creative new dishes that would be cost effective, labor efficient and keep customers coming back.

Southeast Regional Chef Chris Perna & Owner/Partner Omar Ibraham - Snapper’s Fish & Chicken

Harvest of the Sea, a company that supplies premium seafood and specializes in innovative, beyond-the-plate solutions, introduced their own Breaded Calamari Rings – an IQF, hand-breaded calamari that uses a unique fresh-milled, baked and seasoned breadcrumb and saves significant labor with it’s ready-to-go prep. Harvest of the Sea’s own Southeast Regional Chef Chris Perna tested it successfully in five separate Snappers locations and worked closely developing two menu combos, price points and portion amounts that would work for the business and Snapper’s customer base.

The result was a breaded calamari and salad dish and a breaded calamari and fries combo which instantly created unique menu options. But Chris, didn’t stop there. He even designed, fabricated and mounted the drive-through signs to help Snappers introduce the new offerings quickly and cost effectively. Snappers owner/partner Omar Ibraham and his colleagues couldn’t be happier. “Harvest of the Sea’s approach truly defines what the term partnership stands for”, he said. “Beyond enhancing our menu with a great quality product, they brought solutions to our cooks that upped our productivity and our cost efficiency. The breaded calamari dishes will be featured in select Snappers Fish and Chicken restaurants as well as Miami-based Wings on Fire, Hook Fish and Chicken & Lemon Pepper restaurants.

For the food service industry, in general, these hands-on collaborations will be key to getting back to business with new approaches for the menu and the efficient outcome to a business success.