Instore - June 2018 - 32

INSIGHT INSIDER

TRADITION by the Sea
In 1880, Eddie B. Blount started an
oyster packing operation in West
Barrington, Rhode Island. His son
Byron took it over the early 20th
century, and Byron's brother Willis
opened an ice packing plant nearby.
Willis's son Francis, better known as
Nelson, expanded the company with
the World War II-era purchase of the
101-year-old Narragansett Oyster
Company.
Incorporated as the Blount Seafood
Corp., the company shipped bay quahogs
and other seafood under the Whitecap
and Point Judith labels. But the brand
name that became most associated with
Blount was that of its largest customer:
the Campbell Soup Co.
In the 1990s pressure to diversify led
Blount to seek opportunities beyond
Campbell, paving the way for the 2009
rebranding of the company into Blount
Fine Foods.

"Our primary focus is instore deli
- creating recipes for our retail
customers that are their recipes,
that help them create an experience
and an atmosphere in their stores."

"I am a steward, plain and simply," says
Todd Blount, who took over his family's
business in 2001. "My family has built a
wonderful business over ﬁve generations,
and I honor that legacy by continuing to
improve Blount Fine Foods.

ing recipes for our retail customers that are
their recipes, that help them create an experience and an atmosphere in their stores."
Blount's main instore business is heat-andeat and ready-to-eat soups, but the company also makes packaged bowls, sides and
entrees and hot prepared items. And its
product roster is always evolving. In 2016,
Blount launched a full lineup of organic deli
soups and other products. That was followed a year later with the introduction of
its Noodle & Rice Bowl products. Blount's
portfolio will continue to grow heading into
the second half of 2018, Sewall says. This

32 * JUNE 2018 * commissary INSIDER

BOB SEWALL, BLOUNT FINE FOODS

Blount got its start as an oyster packing operation 138 years ago and later became a major
seafood supplier to the Campbell Soup Co. Photo: Blount Fine Foods

spring, the company is adding a new Beef
Pho Bowl; a King Crab Chowder; two new
Panera at Home-branded soups: Vegetarian
Minestrone and Southwest Corn Chowder;
and a Panera-branded Asiago Macaroni &
Cheese Bowl. All will be front and center
at IDDBA, the National Restaurant Association's 2018 show and other shows.
Also on tap for this year's show circuit,
Blount will highlight its hot to-go offerings,
Sewall says. Instore hot bars have seen big

growth in recent years, and they're poised
for more. "Hot bars are really trying to compete more with foodservice," he says. "We're
seeing more and more hot bars being put
into stores."
And with more hot bars has come more variety, Sewall says. For instance, Blount is currently touting the organic items it markets
for hot bars, like its organic mashed sweet
potatoes. "We like to push organic," he says.
"It's part of an effort to get customers who

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