GAPP Launches Wild Alaska Pollock Sandwich in 7-Eleven® Stores

SEATTLE, Wash.—As part of its third round of the North American Partnership Program, 7-Eleven will launch a new Wild Alaska Pollock Fish Sandwich menu item in participating U.S. stores, the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) announced today. The herb-crusted Wild Alaska Pollock (WAP) fillet with American cheese and tartar sauce on a buttery bun will be available until April 20, 2020 and will retail for $2.49. Consumers looking for a Lenten meat alternative can purchase the product for a promotional price of $2 on Fridays through the 7REWARDS loyalty app.
“The convenience industry continues to experience record growth in the U.S., and we are excited to be collaborating with the world’s largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven,” said Craig Morris, Chief Executive Officer of GAPP. “This collaboration is exactly what the program was designed to do — bring Wild Alaska Pollock into new channels, including convenience customers.”

“7-Eleven is always on the lookout for new and delicious fresh food that we think our customers will love and, once they’ve tried it, seek out again and again,” said Robin Murphy, 7‑Eleven fresh food product director. “Customers looking for a hot fish sandwich because they’re observing Lent dietary restrictions, or just because they love a good fish sandwich can find this limited-time offering in our hot cases.”

The U.S. convenience industry experienced its 17th straight year of record in-store sales in 2019, according to newly released National Association of Convenience Stores State of the Industry data, the convenience and fuel retailing industry's premier benchmarks and key performance category insights. U.S. convenience stores sales overall surged 8.9% to $654.3 billion, and in-store sales increased 2.2% to a record $242.2 billion. Foodservice sales accounted for 22.6% of in-store sales, a category that continues to be a key focus area for the convenience store channel. Foodservice is a broad category that mostly encompasses prepared food (69% of both category sales and profits) as well as commissary foods and hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages.

“Not only is this a great way to get Wild Alaska Pollock in front of consumers who may not have had it previously, but it is also a great way to showcase our new messaging designed to motivate consumers to try our fish,” said Morris. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with 7-Eleven to launch this new menu item and work to increase demand and familiarity for our protein.”

The North American Partnership Program was conceived by the GAPP Board of Directors to recognize and provide support for companies throughout the Wild Alaska Pollock industry who are looking to bring new, innovative products to market or introduce the fish to food influencers and decision-makers at forums where it hasn’t previously had visibility. The organization received 17 applications for the third round of funding through the program, and the Board selected 12 of those proposals to move forward and receive funding. For 2019-2020, GAPP has now obligated nearly $3 million toward this initiative.

Each partner brings equal or greater funds to the table, meaning that for every dollar of GAPP investment, there is at least a one-to-one, and in most cases greater, investment in bringing WAP to new channels and consumers. While exact partner investments will remain confidential, the almost $1.5 million GAPP investment in this third round of funding will be more than quadrupled with matching partner funds. All partners will also use the new, approved GAPP messaging that has been compiled based on the extensive consumer research conducted by GAPP this year in an effort to build our Wild Alaska Pollock narrative domestically and create familiarity for our fish’s attributes among consumers.