Alaska Seafood Talk
Archived Posts from this Category
Wednesday 09 Apr 2008
Smoked Salmon Packaging, Alaska Weather and Employment
I missed posting an update in March so I have a few things to touch on in this April posting.
We are currently having new packaging designed for our smoked salmon line of products. We will have the packaging ready to go just in time for summer shoppers. As we narrow down the design options I will post something for all to see.
The weather was warming up, snow melting (gone in most places) and the past 3 days we started getting more snow. It looks like an early summer is not going to happen.
I am very anxious for the summer to get here. For now I will continue to hibernate.
We have completed selecting our crew for this summer season. I am very excited as we have good, quality people coming to work for us in Alaska. Some of the employees are returning from last season and some will be here for the first time.
Thanks,
Nate
Friday 22 Feb 2008
Alaska Smoked Salmon
I received a good question from a customer and thought I would take this time to share it with all of you. Here it is:
“Nate, Could you please tell me the difference between
1)Smoked Sockeye Salmon
2) Smoked Alaskan salmon
Thanks Bob”
This is a very good question Bob; let me digress for a moment.
Salmon can be broken into two groups here in the United States.Group one is Pacific salmon (west cost). That includes areas like, Washington, California and Alaska. Group two is Atlantic salmon (east cost). Atlantic salmon is also referred to as Farmed Salmon.
Next time you go to your local grocer look in the meat department at the salmon they offer. They are required to label the salmon as Atlantic salmon (Farmed) or Alaska salmon. It is the law. They have to distinguish where the salmon came from.
Now looking at the Pacific salmon, more specifically the Alaska salmon, you have 5 species of salmon. You have King Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, Coho Salmon, Keta Salmon and Pink Salmon.
Now back to Bob’s labeling question. If you pick up product that says “Smoked Sockeye Salmon” then that is exactly what you have. If you pick up a product that is labeled “Smoked Alaskan Salmon” then you have 1 of the 5 species mentioned above.
So why would a company label product as “Alaskan” instead of being specific and saying “Sockeye” or “King”? There are 2 possible reasons for this. The first reason is a little shady. As a company I can buy pink salmon the cheapest out of all 5 species. So if I smoked the pink salmon and sold it for nearly the same price as Sockeye Salmon or King Salmon, then wow I just increased my profit margin and made a lot of money! I find that to be a little deceptive and do not operate that way. It’s not good business.
The second option is that a company uses the same package for multiple products. So let’s say I am selling alder Smoked Sockeye Salmon Fillets and alder Smoked King Salmon Fillets. I may choose to have the box printed as “Smoked Alaskan Salmon” so I can use it for either species. If this is the case my pricing will be reflective of the species inside.
So be alert when you are buying salmon. Look on the package to see what species you are buying and where the salmon is from.
Thanks,
Nate
Wednesday 23 Jan 2008
Where does your wild salmon come from?
The answer is simple, us. We have five commercial fishing permits in our family (Randy, Ryan, Mindy, Amy and I). This allows us to catch our own Alaska salmon.
We also have a processing plant that is less than a minute from where we come to shore with our fish. So we are able to process our own fish. Our plant operates in the guidelines of a HACCP plan. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. HACCP is a systematic, preventive approach to food safety that addresses physical, chemical and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection. Our plant is inspected by DEC and/or FDA to ensure that we are in compliance. Our processing plant is also kosher certified. A rabbi comes up to Alaska during our season and inspects our plant to ensure that we are in compliance.
After we catch and process our wild salmon we package and freeze the salmon to fill retail orders online and also to supply our wholesale customers (restaurants, retail stores, smokers, etc.). So when you order from our website I (Nate) pull product out of the freezers and box the product for shipping. FedEx then takes our product and delivers it to your door.
Nate
Tuesday 15 Jan 2008
The New England Aquarium
The New England Aquarium, located in Boston, Massachusetts, not only contains world-class exhibits, but also has Conservation and Research Departments that work towards protecting our world’s ocean resources. Within the Aquarium’s Conservation Department they have developed the Sustainable Fisheries Initiative. Its goal is to influence ocean conservation through seafood supply chains and by raising consumer awareness. To improve the environmental responsibility of seafood supply chains, the Aquarium works with some of the world’s largest seafood retailers and suppliers to encourage the sustainable development of farmed and wild-caught seafood resources. This involves offering companies advice on issues regarding environmentally responsible seafood and facilitating work with fishermen and fish farmers to make proactive changes in their practices to favor our aquatic environments.
The Aquarium uses their Celebrate Seafood program, which consists of the Fish of the Month and the Celebrate Seafood Dinner Series, to raise consumer awareness about environmentally responsible seafood. The Fish of the Month (www.neaq.org/fotm) profiles ocean-friendly seafood options and offers information on how people can make smart seafood choices. The Fish of the Month selection is spotlighted in the Aquarium’s Harbor View Café as a lunch special every month. Environmentally responsible seafood options are also featured as part of the Aquarium’s Celebrate Seafood Dinner Series (www.neaq.org/celebrateseafood), which provides guests with an evening experience that includes a three-course meal, information on seafood conservation, and a cooking demonstration. For the August 2007 Celebrate Seafood Dinner Series event the Aquarium highlighted Alaska salmon and Pacific halibut, and partnered with R&J Seafoods who donated fish for the event. R&J Seafoods has also helped the Aquarium’s cause to raise consumer awareness by including informative recipe and Celebrate Seafood cards with their orders since the event.
Peter Cooper
Wednesday 02 Jan 2008
Resolve to eat healthy this year!
I am sure many people make a commitment to eat healthy as their New Year’s resolution. In fact according to USA.gov it is the number 1 resolution. I must admit I am going to watch what I eat and try to drop 10 pounds this year and more importantly keep it off. For all of those American’s who wish to do the same we are going to help you. Wild salmon and halibut is a healthy food choice. Just look at some of these benefits.
Alaska Wild Salmon contains Omega 3’s. Omega-3 oils also exert additional protective effects against coronary heart disease by:
• decreasing blood lipids (cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins or LDL, and triglycerides)
• decreasing blood clotting factors in the vascular system
• increasing relaxation in larger arteries and other blood vessels
• decreasing inflammatory processes in blood vessels
Alaska Halibut is high in nutrients, low in overall calories, fat and sodium.
We want to make eating healthy affordable. We are going to take 15% off any order you place through our web site. The coupon will expire January 1st, 2009. When you are checking out enter code: EatHealthy2008
Nate
Monday 17 Dec 2007
Holiday Shipping
I just wanted to remind everyone that the cut off date to ship seafood from Alaska to your family is the 20th of December this year. This is according to FedEx. Get your orders in now.
Nate
Wednesday 28 Nov 2007
New Canned Salmon Product
We are now offering canned salmon! Our current product line consists of Silver Salmon and King Salmon. Each can contains 7 oz. of Wild Alaskan Salmon. Our experience has been that most canned salmon contains “less desirable quality fish” well not with our product. We have taken the best quality and canned it. Visit our online store to order yours!
Nate
Monday 05 Nov 2007
Feeding Bear
My wife and I were driving through Cooper Landing this past weekend when we saw this brown bear. The bear had knocked over a bird feeder and was feasting on the bird seeds (not as good as his normal meal of fresh Alaska salmon) but he seamed to be enjoying the free meal.
Nate
Sunday 21 Oct 2007
Salmon Omega 3 Oil
I have read a lot about omega 3’s from wild Alaska salmon. The health benefits have been published in many health and nutrition magazines. Next summer (2008) a movie will be released on Omega 3’s. To find out more about this project you can go to their website:
Nate
Friday 19 Oct 2007
Good Customer Service
I had a very tiring and frustrating day. I called ahead to make an appointment to have an auto start installed on my car. When speaking with the lady on the phone I told her I would have to wait with the car (we are a one car family). She said come in between 1 - 1:30 and it would be 2 hrs (3 - 3:30) and they would have it done. I show up at 1 and the guy tells me 6 hours! I was in the process of explaining that I called ahead and….(that’s all I got out of my mouth)he cut me off and said no 6 hrs. So I took my keys and left.
One the way home I noticed a banner on a building indicating they installed auto starts. I pull over and call the number…after 10 minutes on hold I gave up.
Does good customer service still exist? To all of you R&J customers I will not give you poor customer service…that’s my promise. If I do…call me on it. I don’t like being treated poorly so why should you be treated that way? I will do my best to make sure you get great service when you order seafood from our family.
Nate