Big Changes in Store for Seafood Watch
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program just announced that it has revised both its sustainability assessment criteria and internal research process. The goal of these changes is to help the organization update reports more frequently, keep those reports concise and clearly organized and maintain the information essential to each recommendation.
According to a recent press release,
The streamlined process of creating reports and recommendations has the potential to assess more species of interest, and a new numerical scoring system allows for finer-scale recommendations for seafood buyers, while maintaining the straightforward green-yellow-red “traffic light” rating approach for consumers who rely on popular Seafood Watch pocket guides and smartphone apps.
The revised assessment criteria will not result in significant changes to current Seafood Watch recommendations as they incorporate the same guiding principles, said Senior Science Manager Dr. Tom Pickerell. The new science reports will, however, make it easier to see, at a glance, why each item earned a Best Choice, Good Alternative or Avoid ranking, he said.
We’re also excited to share with you two other major changes that Seafood Watch will be making this year. According to Dr. Pickerell, they will also be working on:
1. An evaluation of certifications schemes (such as the Marine Stewardship Council and the Global Aquaculture Alliance) to see if the Seafood Watch program can use their rankings “determine if any or all are “credible – that is, adhere to a robust process – and equivalent to at least a Seafood Watch ‘Good Alternative’ yellow ranking or above,”
2. Launching of “pilot projects examining strategies to enable stakeholders to utilize our criteria and methodology to assess fisheries and aquaculture operations that are not being assessed by Seafood Watch,”
We’re excited to continue our partnership with Seafood Watch, and we can’t wait to see how these changes help us improve not only our purchasing habits, but how we recommend responsible choices to you.
Be Ready for a Busy Valentine’s Day!
It sounds like it’s going to be a very busy Valentine’s Day for restaurants around the country – and we’d like to know, “are you ready?”
According to this great info-graphic from OpenTable, diners are going to be reserving tables early, spending at least at much as last year, and they aren’t going to be limiting their Valentine’s Day dining to traditional dates, with 76% of respondents noting they would be more than happy to dine out with a group of friends…
Get ready for a busy holiday! But, keep in mind that since the 14th falls on a Tuesday, you might see increased traffic on Saturday the 11th as well. According to the OpenTable survey, 26% of diners are planning their romantic dates for Saturday (with 47% aiming to celebrate on the 14th).
So, what kind of seafood are you putting on the menu?
Sure fire sellers like live Maine lobster, dry pack u/10 scallops and of course, oysters on the half-shell are always great options, but don’t stop there! With celebrating couples (and groups) out to have a good time keep them happy with lobster tails, caviar and other luxury items. Sushi is a fun, light and gorgeous way to feed your guests, get creative! What about some menu items that are designed to encouraging sharing like a gorgeous seafood tower with plenty of options for accidental hand grazing… try some snow crab claws, shrimp or oysters.
Valentine’s Day is also a fun day to play with the idea that seafood is “heart healthy”! Serving fish with good omega-3 fatty acids like wild Alaska king salmon is a great way to literally show your customers you care!
Your Santa Monica Seafood Sales Representative is here to help you with getting your pre-orders in to make sure you have a successful and stress-free Valentine’s Day!!
Is Your Restaurant Ready for the Super Bowl?
With the Patriots and the Giants set to face off on Sunday, February 5th, restaurants around the country are gearing up to capture their share of the business… what are you doing to attract customers on this big day?
A look at restaurants around Orange County shows a wide range of promotions in the works…
Tons of Televisions! Obviously the first thing to do in order to get customers in for the game is to show it… Whether you have 1 big screen or 300 of them, make it easy for customers to cheer on their favorite team (or commercial).
Give-aways are also hot; big prizes like televisions (maybe like that awesome one you just bought to show the game on!) or smaller hourly drawings will keep customers entertained during the game…why not raffle off some gift cards so customers come back?
Food and Drink specials; from all-you-can-eat buffets to free shots for touchdowns, restaurants are pulling out all the stops. Kitchens will be turning out casual football favorites like chili, wings, nachos and hot dogs, or more elegant fare. Whether you give it away or offer it at special price, keep the food coming!
Of course we want to be sure you’re serving plenty of seafood during the game! Shrimp cocktail, smoked fish dips and spreads, fried calamari, oysters on the half-shell, stuffed clams… and don’t forget big bowls of New England Clam Chowder for those Patriot fans! Check in with your Santa Monica Seafood Representative to find out what other items will work to help keep customers happy on Super Bowl Sunday.
The 2012 McCormick Flavor Forecast is Out
Looking to spice up your week? Read on! McCormick, giants of the Spice Scene, have released their annual Flavor Forecast, and it’s full of mouth-watering suggestions…
This yearly roundup “pinpoints top trends driving global culinary innovation in the coming years,” and showcases six growing trends:
- Honoring Roots
- Quest for the Ultimate
- Veggies in Vogue
- Simplicity Shines
- Flavorful Swaps
- No Boundaries
Although we had a good laugh imagining those as chapters in some long-forgotten Home Economics text book, the team over at McCormick has a good record seeing their predictions come true, so we thought it was worth looking further into.
How can you incorporate tons (literally) of seafood from your favorite wholesale seafood provider (that would be us)? It’s easy! Here’s a few ideas:
Honoring Roots; really, just buying from us honors some deep roots in world of California family-owned business… since 1939! The Cigliano Family has been bringing great seafood to the West Coast for decades, these roots are deep!
Quest for the Ultimate; this one’s a little vague… McCormick describes it as:
For flavor fanatics, what satisfied yesterday will not do for tomorrow. Those searching for the pinnacle of fulfillment in food are on an endless quest to achieve ever-greater sensory heights. Culinary explorers are seeking out combinations that create powerful, harmonic bursts of elemental flavors—be it zesty, refreshing, umami or pungent—for the ultimate taste experience.
The combos they list in this section are simply made for seafood! Dill with mint, melon and cucumber and Meyer lemon with lemon thyme, Limoncello and lemon peel… add some Santa Barbara spot prawns or a nice piece of wild Alaska halibut come spring and you’re set!
Simplicity Shines offers two more no-brainers for your seafood section: Ginger with coconut (we’re thinking mussels or corvina – although McCormick offers recipes for a shrimp po’boy and braised cod ) and Vanilla with butter – what about lobster or Mano de Leon scallops? Mouth watering! McCormick has some additional ideas for shrimp and grilled snapper which also look fantastic.
No Boundaries asks us to “shed the rules”! Okay! But how to incorporate Sweet Soy with Tamarind & Black pepper? What about a thick wild Alaskan king salmon steak? And Blueberry with Cardamom & Corn Masa? We’re thinking that one might just be for your dessert menu…
Check out McCormick’s website for the full meal deal including recipes.
Seafood Watch Elevates CA Thresher Shark Ranking to Yellow!
In the midst of prolific objections to shark finning, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has, after much careful investigation, raised their ranking of California Thresher Shark from “red” (avoid) to “yellow” (good alternative).
Since we carry (and promote) this locally caught, nutritious and carefully managed species, we are especially glad to be able to share this news with you!
According to the Seafood Watch website;
A small number of shark populations in North America are managed more responsibly and have healthier populations. These “Good Alternatives” are common thresher and shortfin mako sharks caught in California and Hawaii, and spiny dogfish from British Columbia. However, unless these shark species can be sourced from these specific regions, we recommend that consumers “Avoid” all other shark products.
We can’t say we’re surprised by this news; we’ve been championing CA Thresher Shark for a while now…
For the last 6 months or so, we’ve been battling the perception that all sharks are endangered because of finning and that all shark fisheries are destructive. This is just not the case with the California drift net thresher shark fishery. Despite healthy thresher shark populations, strong regulations, and little to no by-catch issues a high profile southern California retailer was pressured to stop selling the species. This unfairly devastated the California drift gillnet fishery with unintended impact to fishing communities up and down the coast. No one would buy the catch despite its affordability, great eating properties (especially in fish and chips) and its nutritional benefits.
NOAA’s FishWatch clearly states that the California common thresher shark is not overfished but because shark finning and by-catch are so contentious, we wanted to study the issues further before stocking it again. After attending a NOAA workshop at the Aquarium of the Pacific and a swordfish workshop in San Diego we concluded the population was healthy and the management plan effective. Between area and temporal closures and new gear designs, endangered species and marine mammal by-catch has all but been eliminated. By-catch of other species, including pregnant female and juvenile threshers themselves, has been greatly reduced. Shark finning is illegal in the United States and shark fin sales in many states are now illegal.
To further shore up our position, we also donated RSVP funds to a leatherback turtle restoration project in New Guinea where some of the endangered leatherbacks encountered in this fishery originate from.
It’s been a difficult position to maintain, and we’re glad to be joined by the team at Seafood Watch in our support of this local fishery. Check in with your Santa Monica Seafood Representative on availability of fresh (and frozen) California Thresher Shark and get it on the menu today!
Skuna Bay Salmon Receives Aquaculture Certification!
As the region’s exclusive distributor of Skuna Bay Salmon, we’re very excited to announce that they are the world’s first salmon producer to be sourcing its fish from multiple farms that have received BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) certification!
According to the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s website:
Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved global performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain — farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills — that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means.
This is great news about an already great product. In case you aren’t familiar with Skuna Bay Salmon, this is a perfect opportunity for us to let you know what sets it apart from other farmed salmon (in addition to the BAP logo you’ll start to see on their boxes…)
Raised by craftsman farmers with a passion for producing great fish, Skuna bay salmon thrive in the natural ocean waters of Nootka Sound. Strong tidal currents help Skuna Bay Salmon grow strong and healthy. The farmers live on site, constantly monitoring fish and the conditions of the farm. But we don’t need to tell you all this; BAP certification speaks for itself!
What we do want to tell you more about is the impeccable quality of this product. There’s no certification standard for “Craft Raised”, but you can count on getting some of the most carefully handled seafood on the market. Skuna Bay Salmon is harvested in small batches, whisked off to processors and once it meets strict quality standards is packed into patented Thermaseal boxes, sealed with a tamper proof seal and never touched again until it reaches your kitchen!
We’d love to work with you to get this innovative salmon option on to your menu; check in with your Santa Monica Seafood Sales Representative to learn more!
RSVP Renews Funding for King Crab Research
Along with our recent support for Trout Unlimited’s work in Bristol Bay, we are also very happy to announce that the RSVP program has committed to another year of funding for the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program (AKCRRAB)!
With funding support from RSVP the AKCRRAB project will continue their work towards understanding how best to hatch, rear and introduce red and blue king crab stocks into the wild in an effort to reverse depressed wild king crab populations throughout Alaska.
The most recent developments for the AKCRRAB program is the arrival of 19 female blue king crabs at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Seward AK, caught by the crew of the fishing vessel Seabrooke near St. Matthew Island during the 2011 commercial fishing season. The small geographic range of blue king crab, hazardous weather, and limited shipping opportunities have made acquiring blue king crab broodstock difficult in previous years, which makes their successful delivery this year especially important. Blue king crab larvae have been a challenge to rear at the hatchery compared to the red king crab, but AKCRRAB biologists are optimistic that conditions customized to blue king crabs will yield improved survival and growth rates in 2012. Blue king crab larvae are expected to hatch in winter/spring 2012 and will be used in large-scale experiments focused on improving culture techniques.
If you’ve got King Crab Legs on your New Year’s Eve menu (or even if you don’t) take a minute to learn more about what The AKCRRAB Program is doing to ensure these tasty crustaceans have a bright future!
We Support Wild Alaskan Salmon Research!
Our Responsible Sourcing Vendor Partner Program (RSVP) is proud to present its final funding recipient of the year, Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited is one of the nation’s largest and oldest coldwater fisheries conservation organizations and is helping to conserve one of the last pristine freshwater habitats for wild salmon, Bristol Bay Alaska. Bristol Bay supports the largest sockeye and king salmon runs in the world along with healthy runs of coho, pink, and chum salmon.
Despite the many values of Bristol Bay, it faces real threats from proposed mining development that foreign companies want to move forward in the headwaters of Bristol Bay’s most productive salmon rivers and lakes. Trout Unlimited, along with local Bristol Bay native tribes and corporations, commercial salmon fishermen, seafood processors and chefs are working together to ensure that Bristol Bay’s fishery gets the protection that it deserves so that future generations may enjoy this irreplaceable source of healthy and delicious wild salmon.
Critical to managing and protecting this last remaining wild salmon fishery is sound scientific data and research. With funding support from the RSVP program, Trout Unlimited has partnered with one of Alaska’s top fishery biologists, Dr. Carol Ann Woody of Fisheries Research and Consulting, to conduct essential research that documents, maps, and characterizes essential salmon habitats in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska which will inform best management practices and help to ensure a viable and sustainable wild salmon supply into the future.
We’re glad to have this opportunity to help protect one of Alaska’s valuable natural resources!
A Happy Holiday for Some Atlantic Salmon
In the year 2000, Atlantic Salmon were declared an endangered species in eight Maine rivers. Since then, according to an article in the New York Times, more than 3,100 salmon returned to the Penobscot River, the most since 1986, and nearly 200 ascended the Narraguagus River, up from the low two digits just a decade ago.
Although we’re cheered by this information “scientists caution that the long-term picture is still cloudy — and that much could depend on factors far from Maine”, the article noted.
John F. Kocik, a research biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service, told the Times
…in recent years salmon have been faring poorly during their time at sea. Waters have been too warm for salmon in some places and too cold in others, partly influenced by periodic weather patterns known as the North Atlantic oscillation and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. “Both of those seem to be coming into play,” Dr. Kocik said.”
He added that there was more to be learned. “There are also, we believe, some more complex food-chain issues going on that we are trying to understand,” he said.
Climate change may be the biggest issue wild salmon are faced with in the decades to come as even minute changes in temperature can wreak havoc with ecosystems. So, although we’re happy to read about improved returns, we’ll take the information with a grain of sea salt and keep our eye on the issues.
More Good News for Patagonian Toothfish
A little holiday cheer from the Good News department, we’ve been reading some stories about the continuing recovery of Patagonia Toothfish populations and we’d like to share some of that good news with you!
According to the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators, the Australian Heard Island & McDonald Islands Patagonian toothfish fishery is now approaching the final stages of Marine Stewardship Council review.
According to COLTO,
“If successful, HIMI will be the third toothfish fishery to achieve the gold standard of the MSC, determining it a sustainable and well managed fishery, following the South Georgia and Ross Sea toothfish fisheries.”
An earlier press release from COLTO applauded results from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources announced at their annual meeting which show continued reduced Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) catches of toothfish, and which demonstrated the success of protection measures to avoid accidental catch of seabirds during fishing operations.
We’ll keep you updated on how the MSC certification progresses. As always feel free to share your good news with us here on the blog!
Is Your 2012 Menu Ready for Hungry Baby Boomers?
Planning changes to your restaurant or retail outlet in 2012? You might want to involve a focus group of baby boomers… that’s what this blog from Supermarket News makes us want to do!
As Supermarket News points out,
Expect supermarkets to cater to the Boomers, not only by offering the foods, beverages and services to satisfy their growing interest (and need) for health — but to take a good look at the physical shopping experience, to make sure that the aisles are wide, to lower the shelves and most importantly to make them feel welcome and respected.
As we live longer and better (and those baby boomers certainly are, with long average lifespans of 74.1 years for men and 79.5 years for women) we’re becoming more concerned with making healthy choices. You have a pool of over 75 million potential customers out there – give them a great selection of healthy seafood options!
If baby boomers are looking for foods that are good for their health, then seafood certainly tops the list. But it’s not simply adding seafood – it’s adding it in a way that appeals to health-conscious diners. Broiled, steamed, raw – there are many techniques that enhance the flavors of fish and shellfish without detracting from health benefits. Salads featuring seafood, healthy fish soups and stews, tasty pasta dishes, there are so many ways to tempt the palates of your baby boomer customers.
And, like Supermarket News suggests, don’t just stop at your menu – keep in mind the layout of your restaurant, the font size of your menu, your hours of operation, and other things that just might impact your bottom line if you can tweak them to speak to that growing clientele.
Feel free to share you own experiences or ideas on how to best serve all your customers, whether they are baby boomers or not!
Pacific Halibut Fishery Facing More Cuts in Quota
The Scientific Staff of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) released their recommendations for 2012 Pacific Halibut season yesterday, and it was more bad news for most areas (a total overall reduction of 19%) especially area 3B (The Western Gulf of Alaska from the south end of Kodiak Island to Unimak Pass) where they recommend a 32% cut, area 4A (Unimak Pass to roughly just past Islands of the Four Mountains) and where they recommend a 35% cut, and area 4CDE where they recommend a 34% cut. Here’s a map that outlines the fishing areas if you want to see more detail.
However, it’s not just the recommended cuts that have people concerned; an article in today’s Alaska Dispatch notes there are bigger issues according to IPHC commission lead biologist Steven Hare who said,
“the real problem is what he called “unspecified mortality.” Halibut are disappearing from the population for reasons managers can only guess at. “It’s troubling,” Hare said.
Were managers to take these mystery disappearances fully into consideration, he added, they would be forced to recommend drastic cuts in commercial harvests.
One model that does this, he said, suggested setting catches “28 percent lower than the lowest level since 1935.” Catches, or at least legal catches, have already been pushed down 55 percent in the past decade, and they are for sure going down again.
The Alaska Dispatch article title asks, “where have all the halibut gone?” and they propose a variety of answers including the waste of small or unwanted fish from the halibut fishery itself, and pollock and other trawlers, sablefish longliners and other fisheries discarding bycatch. Illegal fishing could be impacting the overall population as could larger ecosystem issues that are contributing to starvation or disease problems.
The IPHC will make their final recommendations early next year, we’ll keep you updated.
Introducing Two New RSVP Funded Projects
We are proud to introduce two new RSVP funding recipients – the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP), a California Sea Grant Extension project and the Marine Biological Laboratory Sustainable Aquaculture Initiative, Haiti Aquaculture project. A world apart and with very different focuses these two exceptional projects help to support the RSVP mission by improving fisheries management and facilitating community development through sustainable practices.
The CCFRP is a collaborative effort among researchers from CA Sea Grant at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) and SLOSEA / Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as well as the captains and crew of 15 commercial and CPFV vessels in central California. For the past six years, CCFRP has been conducting collaborative fisheries projects on local commercially important species through collaborative hook and line tag and release surveys and commercial live trap fishery surveys. The species of interest include nearshore rockfish species, California halibut, cabezon, lingcod, ocean whitefish and Pacific bonito. The CCFRP utilizes the expertise of both scientists and fishermen to better understand the health of fish stocks and marine ecosystems in California.
This summer the CCFRP project surveyed areas off the Northern Central California coast, Ano Nuevo and Point Lobos, completing 16 sampling days with 111 volunteers & 2 interns, catching 3,371 fishes of 20 different species and tagged 1,682 fish! With the support of RSVP funding and the efforts of the CCFRP team this project will lead to improved management effectiveness, ensuring the long-term productivity of commercially important species in our local waters.
To learn more about the CCFRP, please read this recent article about the project in Point Lobos Magazine.
Our other new RSVP funded project, the Marine Biological Laboratory Sustainable Aquaculture Initiative, is helping to alleviate poverty in Haiti by teaching responsible and sustainable Tilapia aquaculture production methods to local villagers in the Cormeir area of Haiti. Using 50+ concrete ponds and the introduction of periphyton based feed and semi-intensive methods this project is helping to meet the dire dietary needs of the Haitian people.
Current research efforts are directed towards the proliferation (education) of current techniques into other areas of Haiti, increasing production of existing fish farms through the formulation of fish feeds using newly discovered feed ingredients available in Haiti including brewery waste, edible jatropha, and several species of currently “valueless” plant products. The education efforts include establishing an aquaculture training and demonstration center in Haiti to gain the support of local Haitian fish farmers. As the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, Haitians are in desperate need of improved and sustainable livelihoods that this project can provide with the support of RSVP funding and the efforts of the sustainable aquaculture initiative personnel.
We are proud to have these two projects be part of the RSVP program and are excited to see what great things they will do next! Check back for regular updates on the future progress of these projects!
2011 Pacific Halibut Season Wraps Up
The 2011 Pacific Halibut season is all but a memory with the last fresh fish moving through our processing facility this week… we hope you enjoyed plenty of fresh halibut this season – but don’t worry if you’re still craving this delicious, sustainably harvested flat fish – it freezes (and defrosts) great! We’ll have plenty of frozen-at-sea halibut from Alaska on hand to carry us through the off-season and although prices are a bit higher than last year, this is still a great fish to keep on your menu through the fall and winter months.
It was a good season for halibut fishermen despite quota cuts. Dock prices remained high all season (which is why our previously frozen halibut is also high). 2011 will be known as the season that Kodiak beat our Homer for the most fish deliveries in Alaska for the first time since 1995!
Ranked Green (Best Choice) by Seafood Watch, and certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, Pacific Halibut is one of our favorite fish – it’s also delicious and versatile! Harvested exclusively by long liners, halibut is a targeted catch with little by-catch associated with its harvest. As we noted, Kodiak and Homer see tons of halibut throughout the season, but halibut is harvested in a variety of areas in Alaska (and Canada, but most of the Pacific Halibut quota is caught in Alaska). The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute offers this great interactive map with info about all of Alaska’s fishing regions, check it out!
Another great source of information about Pacific Halibut is NOAA’s Fish Watch (in fact, Fish Watch is a great source of information about all domestic commercially harvested seafood)! You can find information about the health of the biomass, nutrition facts and more via this useful service.
We will continue to bring in a variety of other flatfish options including locally harvested halibut, Atlantic halibut and smaller flatfish like sole and fluke – stay in touch with your Santa Monica Seafood representative about day-to-day availability. The 2012 Pacific Halibut season will open in March – we’ll keep you updated as information on next year’s season becomes available.
Mouth Watering Menu Descriptions May Mean More Money!
We’re going to send you into the weekend with some food for thought from iSante; mouth watering menu descriptions translate into higher check averages! That’s great news – all you have to do is switch that “swordfish steak” on your menu to a “savory swordfish steak” and you’re that much closer to retirement!
In this blog post, author Brian Wansink notes that descriptive menu items increased sales by 27 percent over the plain-labeled menu items. To keep it simple, Wansink breaks down descriptive labels into 4 different categories;
- Geographic. Labels that claim to reproduce the same flavors that are specifically found in geographic areas have proven successful. Examples are Southwestern Tex-Mex Salad, London Fish and Chips, “Real” Carolina Barbeque, Country Peach Tart.
- Nostalgic. Alluding to past time periods can trigger happy memories of family, tradition, and nationalism. Examples are Classic Old World Italian, Legendary Chocolate Mousse Pie, Nana’s Favorite Chicken Soup.
- Sensory. If labels accurately describe the taste, smell, and mouth-feel of the menu item, then customers will be more able to picture themselves eating it. Ice cream shops accomplish this masterfully—note names like “Chocolate Velvet”…
- Brand. A cross-promotion with a related brand that carries its own important associations makes the menu item more attractive. One drawback of brand labels is that the legal costs and licensing costs can be too expensive for single-unit restaurants. The use of brands says to consumers, “If you love the brand, you’ll love this menu item.” Examples are Black Angus Beef Burgers or Jack Daniel’s BBQ Ribs.
Let’s talk a minute about how you can jazz up those seafood dishes on your menu… Geographical is a no-brainer when it comes to fish and shellfish. From Copper River Salmon to Pickle Point Oysters, we’re used to talking geography in this industry. Your Santa Monica Seafood Representative is your best bet for geographical info. Sometimes we can even add the name of the boat that caught the fish – talk about zeroing in!
Nostalgia isn’t hard to conjure up either when it comes to seafood dishes. Classic menu items like cioppino, crab cakes or tuna melts all lend themselves to nostalgic descriptions.
Sensory? This category was made for seafood! From luxurious black cod to succulent lobster meat – this is a match made in linguistic heaven!
Brand cross promotion we’ll leave up to you – but let us know if you want to feature “Santa Monica Seafood” on your menu!
Looking Ahead to 2012; Restaurant Trends
It’s that time of year when we start to see year-end wrap ups and predictions for the new year ahead… It’s no surprise then that Technomic has recently released their “Seven Leading Restaurant Trends for 2012” in order to give us something to salivate over as we plan ahead for next year.
Although the entire report is interesting, we found there were a couple of trends that really stood out for us. We thought the second trend, “Commodities Costs Drive Rustic Fare Made In-House” was interesting, Technomic notes,
“Commodity costs are rising, labor costs hold steady and diners demand rustic fare, the simple preparations of fresh ingredients. Result: operators will curtail purchases of value-added items in favor of cheaper cuts, beans, grains and produce that require more back-of-house prep to transform into honest, homestyle food”.
Are you thinking about buying less expensive seafood options – maybe buying more whole fish and using the bones and heads to make a tasty fish soup? Your Santa Monica Seafood Representative is always happy to walk you through the different options that are available to save you some bucks on your next invoice.
Technomic also tells us that “Customers Want More Information” and we’re fine with that! Communicating the chain-of-custody has always been a priority for us, and we’re more than happy to get you as much information as you (and your customers) want about the seafood that you’re purchasing.
According to Technomic, Social Networking’s influence will continue to accelerate; are you ready to take on 2012 with a renewed social media marketing plan? Sounds like you better be thinking about it as Americans continue to become more comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences not just with friends and family, but with the world.
To read about all the trends check out Technomic’s website (you can also see what’s going to be hot in Canada next year too…)
California Squid Fishery to Close on Friday
According to the California Department of Fish and Game website, the commercial fishery for market squid, Loligo (Doryteuthis) opalescens, will close on Friday, Nov. 18 at noon.
Based on landings information and projections, DFG has determined that the season’s harvest limit of 118,000 short tons of market squid will be reached by that date. The squid fishing season runs from April through the following March of each year, meaning the fishery will remain closed through March 31, 2012. Market squid remains the state’s largest and most lucrative commercial fishery, valued at over $73 million in 2010.
DFG has been tracking catches daily this fall in anticipation of reaching the harvest limit, which was established to ensure squid are not overharvested. The harvest limit is one of many constraints on the fishery, which has been managed under the state’s Market Squid Fishery Management Plan since 2005. The goals of the plan are to ensure long-term conservation and sustainability of the market squid resource, reduce the potential for overfishing and provide a framework for management.
In addition to the harvest limit, only a limited number of commercial squid fishing permits are issued, and a closure of the fishery on weekends is imposed to allow for periods of uninterrupted spawning each week.
Market squid is rated yellow, or Good Alternative by Seafood Watch;
Squid grow quickly and reproduce at a young age, making them highly resilient to fishing pressure. However, insufficient population data as well as concerns about bycatch and habitat impacts make California market squid a “Good Alternative.”
GOAL Underway in Santiago, Chile
Our Vice President of Strategic Purchasing & Responsible Sourcing, Logan Kock, is in Santiago, Chile attending the 2011 Global Outlook for Aquaculture Leadership (GOAL) conference. He joins over 350 international seafood and aquaculture professionals at this important conference that highlights the need to rapidly expand aquaculture to meet the world’s ballooning seafood demands.
Organized by the Global Aquaculture Alliance, the leading standards-setting organization for farmed seafood, GOAL 2011 addresses the need for growth through expert presentations and discussions on aquaculture production, technology, investment and markets.
According to GAA Executive Director Wally Stevens:
“We know we need to grow, but how do we get there? GOAL brings leaders of the various aquaculture sectors together to consider the challenges, examine courses of action and, hopefully, begin to develop solutions that will set us in the right direction as we work to double aquaculture output within a decade.”
After a welcome from co-hosts SalmonChile and the Undersecretariat for Fisheries of Chile, as well as Pablo Longueira, head of Chile’s Ministry of Finance, Development and Tourism, Ricardo Garcia of Camanchaca kicked off GOAL 2011 with a keynote on “Managing Aquaculture Risks.” The approaching gap between seafood supply and demand is a clear call to action for aquaculture, but a variety of risk factors must be considered in the process of expansion.
Later sessions feature status reviews of supply and demand for major farmed species and presentations on animal health management.
In addition, GOAL participants will hear a report from James Anderson of the World Bank on the Fish to 2030 project, which explores pathways to raising seafood productivity in emerging economies.
Another key presentation will come from Adolfo Alvial. A former technical director for Marine Harvest Chile, Alvial will present the findings of a blue ribbon panel of experts who surveyed the Chilean salmon industry’s ongoing recovery from a severe outbreak of infectious salmon anemia. The study is part of an international effort to share such experiences to help prevent and mitigate similar events in the future.
In the afternoons, presentations on new innovations can help enable businesses to meet the challenges of responsibly increasing the supply of farmed seafood. Topics will include new equipment and farming practices, modeling and system control software, natural systems restoration and marketing strategies.
The Global Aquaculture Alliance, the leading standards-setting organization for aquaculture seafood, is an international, non-profit trade association whose Best Aquaculture Practices program provides comprehensive, metrics-based certification for aquaculture facilities — including farms, hatcheries, feed mills and processing plants. For more information, visit the GAA website.
Santa Monica Seafood Receives Food Safety System Certification 22000!
We’re pleased to announce the Company recently received Food Safety System Certification (FSSC 22000) making us the first seafood company in the United States to achieve this significant accomplishment. The certification has been granted by DET NORSKE VERITAS (DNV), one of the leading internationally recognized ISO certifying bodies.
According to Betty Cordero, Santa Monica Seafood’s Food Safety Manager, “The FSSC 22000 system is our ‘roadmap’ to managing the food safety aspects of our daily operations to ensure high quality as well as safe and wholesome product delivery to our customers based on international standards and requirements.”
FSSC 22000 is the latest and most complete certification program for food safety management systems based on ISO 22000, the global food safety management system standard and PAS 220 — a standard developed to address prerequisite program requirements for food product and ingredient manufacturers. It has been fully approved by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
Santa Monica Seafood is committed to being the most trusted source of seafood in the industry and now supports that commitment through the use of an established FSSC 22000 Food Safety Management system, which will help build a culture of food safety into everyday activities, service and communication. In addition, the Company actively promotes safe product handling by continually reinforcing established policies and procedures through associate training in food safety awareness.
Michael Cigliano, Santa Monica Seafood’s Executive Vice President commented “FSSC 22000 certification reinforces our commitment to our customers’ safety and confirms our position as a leader in the seafood industry”.
2011 Customer Wine Tour Recap
We started our 2011 Temecula wine tour at Old Town Temecula, where we had a chance to enjoy visiting a variety of tasting rooms including Curry Vineyard and Winery, Tesoro Winery, The Temecula House of Wine, and the combination wine tasting and olive oil tasting room of Villa de Calabro. We also enjoyed checking out some of Old Town’s food purveyors such as The Old Town Spice Merchants, Old Town Temecula Root Beer Company, The Chili Roasters, The Temecula Valley Cheese Company, The Temecula House of Jerky, and The Sweet Shop. Nobody boarded the bus hungry!
Along the route to our next stop we all enjoyed the scenic drive that passed by a variety of vast equestrian ranches, well-kept vineyards, lush citrus orchards, and stately mansions as entered wine country. Our first stop was Miramonte Vineyard and Winery where the owner, Cane Vanderhoof and his acclaimed winemaker, Reinhart (formerly of the well-known Argyle in Oregon) met us to begin our tour. With a stunning vista of wine county, we savored a variety of vintages while relaxing on their stunning patio terrace featuring views of Mount San Jacinto and Mount Palomar. Miramonte Winery is Southern California’s premier artisan winery, specializing in adventurous, succulent Rhone-based varietal wines.
Lunch at Miramonte Vineyard and WineryLunch at Miramonte was spectacular! We enjoyed pecan crusted seared Scottish salmon with pesto drizzle, chicken roulade stuffed with artichokes, roasted peppers and manchego creamy red pepper coulees, pan seared organic 7-grain wild rice cakes, orecchiette with wild forest mushrooms and scallions finished with Miramonte Syrah demi-glace, oven roasted butternut squash with local thyme, spinach salad with toasted pinenuts, cremini mushrooms, sweet peppers and heirloom grape tomatoes with smoked olive oil and red wine vinaigrette and a wonderful selection of deserts.
Organic Farming Explained
After lunch, we headed on to the certified organic Crows Pass Farms, owned and operated by David Barnes. Founded in 1991, the farm is committed to providing chefs in San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles Counties with organically grown fruits and vegetables that are not only raised sustainably but are of the highest quality with incredible flavor. David showed us around the gorgeous acreage, we got to pick some fruit and we enjoyed some tasty samples (although we must admit to being stuffed from lunch…)
Last but certainly not least, Leonesse Cellars was the final stop of the day. Boasting another compelling valley vista, we enjoyed an interesting tour, and sampled a variety of wines paired with a delicious international cheese and smoked salmon presentation. We also enjoyed the shucking talents of Joe Scognamillo (and some delicious oysters on the half shell) and Contessa shrimp cocktail. Although the average guest probably gained 4.7 pounds during the day, we think everyone would agree it was worth it!
Stay in touch with your Santa Monica Seafood representative if you’d like to join us on our next wine tour! These tours are a great way to learn about local producers, and everyone benefits from spending quality time with colleagues. Hope to see you on the next tour!