In 2022, East Coast Seafood participated in Food Export-Northeast’s Branded Program to gain brand recognition in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. Through allocated funds, the New Bedford, Massachusetts supplier used the program to offset the costs of making packaging changes and completing sample product shipments. As a result, they have seen a $461,000 increase in sales to Mexico from 2021 to 2022. With the help of the Branded Program, this supplier has broken the cost barrier of getting a new product to market. Creative services Manager, Corey Mullen stated, “So many things that we do is made possible through utilization of this program.” 

East Coast Seafood now has products in a large retailer with 40 stores in Mexico and have done $700,000 in sales in 2023 across three new products. There is also a great potential for reorders of these same products as well as others, both in Mexico and across the globe! 

East Coast Seafood was established in 1981 and has become a global leader in the lobster and scallop industries. The company continues to evolve to meet the demands of the global market, with recently introduced products such as a lobster roll kit, lobster risotto bites, and marinated mahi-mahi. 

East Coast Seafood has been an active participant in the Branded Program and in other Food Export activities since 2004. 

Food Export uses funding from the Market Access Program (MAP) to help America’s small businesses increase their exports of food and agricultural products. As these exports increase, these small businesses are creating jobs and improving the strength and stability of our agricultural economy. Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast are non-profit organizations that work in collaboration with their member state departments of agriculture and the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. They offer a wide range of programs and services that help boost America’s agricultural exports.