Unboxed: 7 seafood products to celebrate World Oceans Day
Seafood is a booming category, but natural products brands know that the most important thing is doing it sustainably.
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This new snack brand uses only Alaskan wild-caught salmon to make its crispy fatty salmon skin snacks, which come in four different flavors including an enticing Tart Cranberry variety. The salmon is carefully sourced from select Alaskan fisheries that responsibly fish only plentiful target species. Additionally, though the skins are fried in palm oil, the company sources only Palm Done Right oil, which is 100% organic, fairly traded and has a completely transparent supply chain.
Mowi Pure's fresh salmon fillets are shipped directly from their origin in Norway and hand-cut in the United States into portions including escallopino (“minute steaks”) and saku (Japanese-style “block” shape). The product of aquaculture, 100% of the company’s salmon is third-party ASC Certified from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and traceable through QR codes.
Open any can of any of Freshé’s four varieties of globally inspired mini meals and you’ll find a delicious combination of seafood, veggies, olive oil and regional herbs and spices. This one mixes wild tuna fillets with fire roasted peppers, herbs, potatoes and olives. Made with wild-caught tuna from the coasts of Spain and Portugal, all of the seafood is 100% certified sustainable by the Friend of the Sea global standard, as well as non-GMO and gluten free.
The latest in a line of chef-created frozen meals and bowls from this Pacific Northwest company, this veggie shrimp bowl has BAP Certification for “Best Aquaculture Practices” from the Global Aquaculture Alliance. Additionally, the company has an internal “Seafood Forever” program that is based on the four pillars of sustainability, social responsibility, traceability and food safety.
Feast on the knuckle and claw meat of Maine lobster with this ready-to-eat kit from Luke’s Lobster, a Certified B Corporation that works to support local coastal communities by sourcing its lobster directly from local fisherpeople. Every pound of seafood can be traced back to harbor where it was sustainably caught, and the company is both MSC-certified sustainable and SQF Level 3 Food Safety Certified.
Though by no means a new product, these sustainably fished wild sardines from the Portuguese coast are representative of the meticulous sourcing efforts that go into each and every one of the products sold by Ecofish, an early champion of sustainable seafood and the company behind this brand. Today, 100% of Henry and Lisa’s Natural Seafood products are certified sustainable either by the Marine Stewardship Council (wild) or Aquaculture Stewardship Council (farmed), and the company recently received a “Gold” rating from Natural Grocers for the high level of sustainability of their seafood products.
This simple and delicious wood-smoked salmon is harvested off of Lummi Island, Washington, using reef nets, a traditional selective-fishing technique that makes it possible for fishermen to identify and release non-target species without harming them. To ensure the success of this practice, fishery practices are also continually monitored for sustainability by a team of fish biologists, conservationists and NGO’s.
This simple and delicious wood-smoked salmon is harvested off of Lummi Island, Washington, using reef nets, a traditional selective-fishing technique that makes it possible for fishermen to identify and release non-target species without harming them. To ensure the success of this practice, fishery practices are also continually monitored for sustainability by a team of fish biologists, conservationists and NGO’s.
June 8 is World Oceans Day, an annual international event officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008 that was created to bring attention to sustainability issues and initiatives affecting the world’s oceans.
While news in recent decades on the topic of ocean conservation has been grim, there have also been glimmers of hope—particularly as today's consumers become more aware of the environmental and ethical ramifications of the food they eat and its origins.
Still, with Nielsen reporting that seafood was the top growing category in the week ending May 2 in xAOC (Nielsen’s term for our measurement of U.S. grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers, select dollar stores, select warehouse clubs and military commissaries, including natural and independent retailers), with sales up by 54% with regard to the year before, it has never been more important to safeguard the quality and sustainability of the bounty from the sea. And, as was noted in the top macro force predictions published earlier this year, there’s little doubt that the ocean will be one of the next frontiers for sustainably sourced animal products.
Fortunately, companies are taking this to heart in myriad ways. Community-supported fishery shares like those offered by Sitka Salmon, for example, offer delivery of sustainably fished wild salmon and other seafood to consumers' doors during the Alaska fishing season. And in terms of new technologies, blockchain supply management company Unisot has recently launched SeafoodChain, a system designed to increase transparency and provide real-time information about product sustainability from sea to plate.
Likewise, many natural products brands offer seafood products that are sourced with an adherence to different sustainability and environmental standards—and certified by third-party organizations—thereby offering consumers more responsible choices.
Intended to complement this article, the following gallery features an additional selection of products from the sea that are sure to delight consumers' taste buds while not losing sight of the urgent need to protect the world’s ocean life.
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