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New Product Review....Starkist's 'Seasations' Steam in Bag Savory Lemon & Herb Fish Portions
I had the opportunity to try this new Starkist SeaSations Atlantic Whitefish Portions in a Steam Bag, (Microwaveable) and I wanted to share my thoughts.
At my local Publix Grocery Store, it was sitting on a shelf in the Frozen Seafood Entree section....and at first glance it looked interesting.
Basically, what you get is this box with two individual portions inside. The net weight is stated as 11.4 oz, but that's a little misleading. It's not two fish portions that weigh 5.7 ounces each as one might expect. A 6oz piece of fish is a nice size portion.
Instead, what you really get is 6.5oz of fish (3.25oz each) and the rest of the 'net weight' is made up from the 'Savory Lemon & Herb sauce.
Before I continue with the actual product review, I want to do a quick pricing review.
Publix is retailing this box for $5.99. So basically $3 per portion.
That's almost $16 per pound for the fish! Just under $1 per ounce of protein. Does that sound like 'VALUE'?
I can make a Savory Lemon & Herb sauce from scratch at home for about $0.25 worth of ingredients. I could also buy a full pound of high quality 'FRESH' whitefish for under $6 from the Publix Fish Counter.
Of course, I know how to cook fish and make a good sauce cheaply. Not everyone can.
Doing some simple math, I could have made this exact same dish at home (same portion size in the box) for $2.27 TOTAL!
($4.99/lb for Tilapia, Catfish etc, costs $0.31/oz X 6.5oz = $2.02 + the $0.25 for the sauce)
I'm not crediting any value here to the convenience, energy cost, speed etc, so this is not scientific. But it is expensive, so it had better be good, right?
Well, maybe not.
I took the two portions out of the box and followed the microwave instructions, cooking one bag at a time. I love the Steam Bag concept! It vents itself, so no poking holes in the bag and making a mess in the microwave......or so I thought.
The first portion I cooked was a leaker.
This is what was one the plate before I cut open the cooked bag....and below is the mess it made in the microwave
So, at this point, I'm not doing any cartwheels on the kitchen floor.....and wondering that since the bag wasn't properly sealed, if it's even safe to eat.
I decided to take the chance....and I was disappointed. The fish was mushy....very, very mushy. I gave my daughter a little bite (she has a very keen sense of taste and quality for a teenager) and her only comment was "it tastes fishy" before she walked away, no longer interested in my little project.
On to the second bag now.....with low expectations.
At least this one wasn't a leaker. This is a short video clip cutting and pouring onto plate.
It smelled good and it looked good.
Here's one more short clip of the fish up close.
The second piece ate a lot better than the first. It had a reasonable firm texture and didn't have that 'fishy' taste like the first one.
Still, I couldn't get over the fact that one edible 3.25oz portion of fish cost me $6. Especially since I know I could have done a lot better doing it all myself from scratch.
Since this is a new rollout item for Starkist, and obviously a new item for Publix, I don't think they can afford a first time buyer having a mediocre experience. I hope mine was unique, otherwise this item won't be on the shelves for long.
A couple other comments...
The front of the box only mentions South Atlantic Whitefish....you have to go all the way to the bottom of the ingredient label (Allergen Section) to discover the fish is Hake.
I actually like Hake, but it's also a $2/lb fish....so somebody is making some serious margin here.
Also, a significant ingredient is Hydrolized Vegetable Protein. This is the same stuff canned tuna makers use to bump up the protein levels. I'm not really sure why Starkist decided to add it, other than to improve their margin even more....or perhaps they're so used to using it in canned tuna, they don't know any better.
I will keep my eye on this product but I won't be buying it again anytime soon. Especially when there's fresh or frozen fish fillts on sale.
At my local Publix Grocery Store, it was sitting on a shelf in the Frozen Seafood Entree section....and at first glance it looked interesting.
Basically, what you get is this box with two individual portions inside. The net weight is stated as 11.4 oz, but that's a little misleading. It's not two fish portions that weigh 5.7 ounces each as one might expect. A 6oz piece of fish is a nice size portion.
Instead, what you really get is 6.5oz of fish (3.25oz each) and the rest of the 'net weight' is made up from the 'Savory Lemon & Herb sauce.
Before I continue with the actual product review, I want to do a quick pricing review.
Publix is retailing this box for $5.99. So basically $3 per portion.
That's almost $16 per pound for the fish! Just under $1 per ounce of protein. Does that sound like 'VALUE'?
I can make a Savory Lemon & Herb sauce from scratch at home for about $0.25 worth of ingredients. I could also buy a full pound of high quality 'FRESH' whitefish for under $6 from the Publix Fish Counter.
Of course, I know how to cook fish and make a good sauce cheaply. Not everyone can.
Doing some simple math, I could have made this exact same dish at home (same portion size in the box) for $2.27 TOTAL!
($4.99/lb for Tilapia, Catfish etc, costs $0.31/oz X 6.5oz = $2.02 + the $0.25 for the sauce)
I'm not crediting any value here to the convenience, energy cost, speed etc, so this is not scientific. But it is expensive, so it had better be good, right?
Well, maybe not.
I took the two portions out of the box and followed the microwave instructions, cooking one bag at a time. I love the Steam Bag concept! It vents itself, so no poking holes in the bag and making a mess in the microwave......or so I thought.
The first portion I cooked was a leaker.
This is what was one the plate before I cut open the cooked bag....and below is the mess it made in the microwave
So, at this point, I'm not doing any cartwheels on the kitchen floor.....and wondering that since the bag wasn't properly sealed, if it's even safe to eat.
I decided to take the chance....and I was disappointed. The fish was mushy....very, very mushy. I gave my daughter a little bite (she has a very keen sense of taste and quality for a teenager) and her only comment was "it tastes fishy" before she walked away, no longer interested in my little project.
On to the second bag now.....with low expectations.
At least this one wasn't a leaker. This is a short video clip cutting and pouring onto plate.
It smelled good and it looked good.
Here's one more short clip of the fish up close.
The second piece ate a lot better than the first. It had a reasonable firm texture and didn't have that 'fishy' taste like the first one.
Still, I couldn't get over the fact that one edible 3.25oz portion of fish cost me $6. Especially since I know I could have done a lot better doing it all myself from scratch.
Since this is a new rollout item for Starkist, and obviously a new item for Publix, I don't think they can afford a first time buyer having a mediocre experience. I hope mine was unique, otherwise this item won't be on the shelves for long.
A couple other comments...
The front of the box only mentions South Atlantic Whitefish....you have to go all the way to the bottom of the ingredient label (Allergen Section) to discover the fish is Hake.
I actually like Hake, but it's also a $2/lb fish....so somebody is making some serious margin here.
Also, a significant ingredient is Hydrolized Vegetable Protein. This is the same stuff canned tuna makers use to bump up the protein levels. I'm not really sure why Starkist decided to add it, other than to improve their margin even more....or perhaps they're so used to using it in canned tuna, they don't know any better.
I will keep my eye on this product but I won't be buying it again anytime soon. Especially when there's fresh or frozen fish fillts on sale.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Paz on -
That was very interesting!
Just as a consumer the cost factors were pretty astounding!
Thanks for taking all that time and effort for the review.
Did you by chance send the FOHBOH link to Starkst!! :-)
Paul
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Permalink Reply by Steve Paterson on -
LOL Paul!
Perhaps I should send them the link.......I'd welcome their response.
and yes, as far as the numbers go, I gave a best case scenario....my numbers were padded somewhat.
However, I didn't get into packaging costs, overhead, sheltered income, freight, retail margin etc.
I'm not sure if that's a wash but it should be close.
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Permalink Reply by Howard Appell on -
I just read an article about how you can lose weight by using frozen dinners because they are a form of portion control. Then I read your post. It becomes very expensive and I think I'll skip the fish plate. Thanks for the information.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Paterson on
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Howard
If that's the case, then maybe it's worth it to some people. If I needed to lose weight, I would be happy to pay more for something, if it actually helped.
Also, I'm not implying that this is a ripoff at all!
It's reasonable value...especially if you can't cook (or attending college)
However, the numbers I exposed are probably something a lot of people need to see right now. Keep in mind though, it's not always cheaper to cook yourself.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Paterson on
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Howard
You should eat all the fish you can! The health benefits are outstanding....
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Permalink Reply by susan holaday on -
Yuck - sounds like a very bad experience. The sad thing is so few people seem to understand that when they cook at home, they can do a better job for less than when they buy pre-prepared stuff like this - and how many bother to read all the ingredients?
Restaurants, on the other hand, are in a position to offer great value - the food is prepared by people who know how to cook well, they're not using HVP - we hope - and the food is served to you and you don't have to clean up!
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Permalink Reply by Kris Abadie on -
This was very informative and I hope there will be more in the future! Plus you saved me a few bucks, thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Steve Paterson on
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You're welcome.
I just came across this canned tuna review which I thought was relevant and interesting
http://www.kansas.com/living/food/story/737597.html
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Permalink Reply by Jim Clute on -
Thanks for the valuable information.
I understand the value of convenience foods but when you start using the same cost value systems that we routinely apply to menu items, you will usually be disappointed. It is very tough to mimic an entree from a restaurant in the frozen food section, unless you are starting with something that is complex to duplicate or just plain uneconomical to make from scratch at home. If you can do a recipe from scratch, you are probably going to ignore the prepared version from a supermarket. It sounds like this is one of those items.
Thanks again for the review and insight.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Paterson on
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Jim
You're right on target!
I bought this item because I was craving fish with a lemon butter type sauce, but didn't feel like cooking.....and I was curious. (Okay, I'll admit it was an impulse buy too).
I was okay with the price, but only half pleased with the experience.
The technology behind this product intrigues me to no end. I think the potential is huge, but they have to get it right soonest.
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Permalink Reply by steve hutch on -
Steve, thanks for the review. Glad I tried this from Publix before I came across your review. I tried 2 other flavors (Thai and Med. tomato - I think) of this product and loved them both. I did not try the lemon though. I apprecatiate your insight, but once I saw on your blog that you work for a fresh seafood company, I must admit I did take it with a small grain of salt. Keep up the entertaining blog.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Paterson on
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Steve
Thanks for the comment.
I did see the other two flavor profiles you mentioned, but decided to go with the lemon butter for the first go-around.
I have to tell you though, this was NOT a biased review in any form. I wanted this product to perform well. I personally have nothing to gain if it's great or awful.
Yes, I'm in the seafood business (and produce, dairy, beef etc)...so I will admit, my eye is probably more trained than Joe the Plumber.
Still, I'm happy you found the post entertaining....can't hurt, right?
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