The Van Cleve Seafood Co. Announces Expansion Into Mid-Atlantic Safeway Stores With Premium Seafood and New Sauce Line

The Van Cleve Seafood Co., the all female and family owned creators of premium gourmet products, announce their product lines launching into 91 premium stores of the Safeway grocery chain.

The award-winning seafood company, which started in Spotsylvania, VA in 2001 with a seafood market, found their niche by providing high quality and one-of-a-kind gourmet items. The Van Cleve Seafood Co.'s signature product, Chesapeake Blue Crab Pie, is made using a 200 year old secret recipe from a historic Virginia manor and has been designated a Virginia's Finest product since 2006. The company is proud to include the Chesapeake Blue Crab Pie and their Chesapeake Scallop and Bacon Pie in the Safeway launch.

"All of our products are made by hand with high quality seafood not typically found in the retail market, both of those factors set us apart from every other brand in the industry.”, said Monica Van Cleve-Talbert, one of the two daughters in the family company, "We are excited to launch eight products into Safeway stores including five of our own seafood sauces and marinades".

Working behind the seafood counter for over a decade provided the Van Cleves the opportunity and experience in creating fusion sauces for their customers. "You have to really know the needs of the customers firsthand", added Monica. “So many of our customers were fearful of cooking seafood. We created our sauces and easy to prepare recipes to give them the confidence to cook more seafood and also to try new varieties maybe once outside of their comfort zone.” They try to pair spices and fruits together, such as apricot and ginger and orange and chilies resulting in a burst of flavor that complements the seafood, allowing it to shine.

The premium line is also used on meats, poultry, cheese and vegetables, and they can even whisk into salad dressings and dips with the addition of a pantry ingredient, making the entire line extremely versatile. You will also find a brochure from The Van Cleve’s next to their sauces on the Safeway seafood counters giving customers over 50 ways they can use the versatile sauce line. "When we operated our restaurant, a single product had to have multiple uses to make it on our shelf. Our new premium sauces and marinades are the exact same way." commented Shelly Van Cleve, the mom of the two daughters in the family company.

They are excited to expand into Safeway stores and Safeway is pleased to offer their customers The Van Cleve's high-end products. Safeway was founded in 1915 and now operates over 2,200 stores nationwide. They have been serving the Virginia, Maryland and DC area customers since 1928 with the philosophy of offering customers the products they wanted to buy at a fair price, with lots of tender, loving care. A philosophy the Van Cleve’s believes mirrors their own company values.

“We're on a mission.” says Monica Van Cleve-Talbert “We're out to raise the bar and change the standards in the seafood grocery aisle, just like we did in our seafood market and restaurant many years ago.” The ladies of the Van Cleve Seafood Co. are definitely in a boat all by themselves setting sail with Safeway to a destination of success.

For more information about The Van Cleve Seafood Co., or their newest line of products and the entire retail and foodservice items contact Monica Van Cleve-Talbert at 1-800-628-9502 or visit www.VanCleveSeafood.com