Cooke Aquaculture and Martha Stewart form partnership

A New Brunswick seafood producer is partnering with one of the biggest names in the food world.

True North Seafood, a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture, says it will sell aline of ready-made meals developed with Martha Stewart.

Dishes will feature salmon, pollock and scallops.

Stewart is a longtime fan of the Saint John company's products, saidJoel Richardson, vice-president of public relations for True North Seafood.

"She came out to visit our salmon farms a couple of years ago and was very impressed by the operation and wanted to look at opportunities to work together," said Richardson.

In a news release, Stewart was quoted as sayingshe's served seafood from Cooke Aquaculture"for years" and has visited the company's operation near her home in Seal Harbour, Maine.

"I saw first-hand their innovative and industry-leading methods of sustainable farming and fishing," she said.

This is Cooke's first collaboration with a name from the food world.

"Martha Stewart has tremendous, not only name recognition, but tremendous recognition as an authority on good eating and proper food preparation and is very thoughtful about sustainable farming."

Richardson said the new line includes four dishes, ready to cook with all ingredients sealed in the same package.

"Martha and her chef team worked with us to create the recipes, create the pairings between our seafood products and our spice blends," he said.

The products will be unveiled in March at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston before hitting the shelves in the United States in May.

Richardson said a Canadianrolloutwill follow later in 2019.

Company growth

Cookeis the largest, independently owned seafood company and hopes the deal with Stewart will grow the company even more, he said.

The partnership is the latest in a number of expansions forCookeAquaculture.

Earlier this month, the company bought an Ecuadorian shrimp-farming company. In December2017, itacquired a Houston-based fishing company.