An Auburn company said Wednesday that its latest national retail client, Target, recently started selling its frozen shrimp bowls.
Scott & Jon’s, which makes seafood bowls that it says are low calorie and that use sustainably sourced shrimp and fresh vegetables, said it has added 640 regular and 150 super Target stores to the more than 7,000 stores it sells in nationally.
The company, run by co-founders and brothers Scott and Jon Demers, is selling shrimp bowls locally in Hannaford, Shaw’s, Market Basket and now Target stores, including in South Portland and Concord, New Hampshire. It also sells nationally through Safeway, Stop & Shop, Ahold, Kroger, Costco and others.
The bowls sell for $4.95.
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It makes frozen shrimp bowls in flavors including shrimp risotto and shrimp alfredo and garlic butter. The ingredients are placed over rice or pasta. The bowls all are less than 300 calories per serving, the company said.
Scott & Jon’s rebranded in April from using the name Cheating Gourmet. The rebranding came after the brothers raised $2.17 million in equity in November 2018 for working capital and to pay certain executives, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The company raised another $800,000 earlier this year.
“We rebranded as ‘Scott & Jon’s’ to show we’re just a couple guys from Maine who know about seafood,” Scott Demers said.
The company, with $7 million in revenue, is growing rapidly, having added six employees to the existing six it had last year. And it’s hiring a couple more as it stretches into more retail stores.
Scott Demers said he is considering adding salmon to the product line.
The company also will start selling in about 250 BJ’s Wholesale Clubs in July. And it’s looking at selling through e-commerce platforms, including Amazon.com, later this year.
To fill orders, the company has two contract manufacturers making the shrimp bowls.
Scott Demers said the seafood is sourced from sustainable seafood facilities that are certified for best aquaculture practices. The seafood comes from India and North America.
“We have really healthy, clean products with a real high quality standard that people want with seafood items,” he said.
[Recipe: A quick, easy shrimp dip]
The brothers said the meals, which are ready in about five minutes, tap into the current demand for healthy convenience foods.
“Growing up in Maine, fresh, high-quality seafood has always been a central part of our diet,” Jon Demers said in a statement. “Our goal is to remove the barriers to consumption — whether it’s time or cooking skills — so more people can enjoy it.”