Canned tuna: Tuna canners, big and small, launch flavored products to bolster sales

摘要

It's no secret that the canned-tuna category has been mired in a sales slump over the past few years. But some of the segment's movers and shakers are hopeful that new products, enhanced packaging and heightened marketing muscle — emphasizing tuna'sstatus as a lean, heart-healthy protein — will return the category to the growth track. Moreover, the industry has launched a 5 million dollar public-relations campaign to counter what it sees as misleading media reports about the risk of ingesting harmful levels of methylmercury by eating tuna. The U.S. Tuna Foundation (USTF), representing StarKist, Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea — which account for more than 90 percent of the market — began the three-year campaign in mid-2006 to reassure American consumers about the safety of canned tuna, an effort recently bolstered by two favorable, high-profile scientific studies on the benefits of seafood consumption.