Seafood Business articles from June 2009

Seafood Business archives from June 2009

Assume nothing.(Editor's Note)
June 1, 2009... Ever since the economy began to nosedive last fall and restaurants all over the country started closing their doors, retail experts have assumed that a lot of money consumers saved by not eating out as much would be spent at retail instead. Not...

Irradiation processing may make slurping safer: Univ. of Florida researchers help devise bacteria-killing process for oysters.(food safety)
June 1, 2009... Timid raw bar recruits are running out of excuses to hoist a halfshell. Live oysters will be less of a health risk in the near future if a newly approved yet controversial shellfish processing technique in the United States catches on. ...

MSC clients join forces: ASF seeks greater input in certification process.(environment)
June 1, 2009... Twenty fisheries participating in the Marine Stewardship Council program in late April formed the Association of Sustainable Fisheries (ASF) to foster dialogue between the London-based nonprofit and its client fisheries. ASF fisheries are...

Chicken of the Sea International.(Biz BRIEFS)
June 1, 2009... Chicken of the Sea International in October will open a 200,000-square-foot tuna cannery in Lyons, Ga., creating 200 jobs. The company announced it would close its cannery in American Samoa in September due in part to a sharp minimum wage...

Importer and distributor H&N Foods International in late April acquired Berdex Seafood.(Biz BRIEFS)
June 1, 2009... Importer and distributor H&N Foods International in late April acquired Berdex Seafood. The Berdex office in Vancouver, Wash., will remain open while its San Francisco office will consolidate into H&N's headquarters in Burlingame, Calif.

Cooke Aquaculture.(Biz BRIEFS)
June 1, 2009... The Maine International Trade Center awarded Cooke Aquaculture of Blacks Harbor, New Brunswick, Canada, as the 2009 International Investor of the Year for employing 200 Mainers and investing $60 million in new equipment and technologies.

Phillips Foods.(Biz BRIEFS)
June 1, 2009... Phillips Foods of Baltimore now offers monthly rebates to foodservice operators for its top products, A different rebate Program will be offered each month through the company's Seafood Insider Newsletter.

PanaPesca USA.(Biz BRIEFS)
June 1, 2009... PanaPesca USA of PembroKe, Mass., is the exclusive marketer and distributor of seafood from Sea Harvest Corp. of Cape Town, South Africa, including Its Cape Haddie-branded products, which utilize Cape capensis, a type of hake.

Supreme Court allows tuna-mercury lawsuit: case involving Chicken of the Sea may now go to trial.(legal)
June 1, 2009... The U.S. Supreme Court in late April let stand a lower court ruling allowing a New Jersey consumer to sue Chicken of the Sea over mercury poisoning, which she alleges she contracted by eating tuna products daily over a five-year period. ...

GlobalGAP launches new standards: first certified tilapia, pangasius to hit market soon.(aquaculture)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... GlobalGAP introduced farmed tilapia and pangasius certification standards during the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) in late April. In development for less than two years, GlobalGAP auditors tested the standards at 15 farms in Asia and...

Taylor, DNR settle lawsuit: company allowed to harvest oysters, geoducks.(legal)
June 1, 2009... Washington's Department of Natural Resources and Taylor Shellfish Farms of Shelton, Wash., in late April settled a dispute over use of Puget Sound's Totten Inlet. The agreement resolves the ownership, access and past use of the tidelands,...

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.(Line ITEMS)
June 1, 2009... A five-second ad touting Alaska seafood is dazzling travelers through New York City's Times Square. An Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute ad is running for 77 days, generating an estimated 1.5 million impressions daily.

Whole Foods Market is selling Blue Horizon Organic's Natural Seafood Bites nationally.(Line ITEMS)
June 1, 2009... Whole Foods Market is selling Blue Horizon Organic's Natural Seafood Bites nationally. Three of the four varieties--salmon cakes, fish and chips and albacore tuna--are gluten free and sourced from Marine Stewardship Council-certified fisheries....

AGAR.(Line ITEMS)
June 1, 2009... Independent food distributor AGAR of Taunton, Mass., is donating a penny to Ocean Alliance for every pound sold from its Nautifish line of sustainable seafood products.

Seafood Choices Alliance.(Line ITEMS)
June 1, 2009... Seafood Choices Alliance's 2010 Seafood Summit will be held in Paris. Challenging Assumptions in a Changing World is the theme for the three-day event, slated to begin Jan. 31, 2010.

Ocean Conservancy.(Line ITEMS)
June 1, 2009... Ocean Conservancy added From Fishery to Fork to its Web site, a feature that highlights educational opportunities about sustainable fisheries.

Pew wants more farmed salmon inspected: SOTA says group's warnings are 'misleading'.(food safety)
June 1, 2009... The Pew Environment Group in April urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand testing of farmed salmon imports from not only Chile but also Canada, Norway, Scotland and Ireland due to "widespread use" of unapproved or banned...

North Pacific mercury levels rising: CCF says mercury levels aren't increasing in fish.(environment)(Center for Consumer Freedom)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report published in early May found that mercury levels in the North Pacific Ocean in 2006 were approximately 30 percent higher than those recorded in the mid-1990s. The report's authors projected mercury...

Oysters, wine a sweet match: annual 'dating service' determines 10 winners.(competition)
June 1, 2009... The 2009 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, the annual "dating service" to find the best West Coast wine pairings for oysters, took place over the course of April. Sponsor Taylor Shellfish Farms of Shelton, Wash., invited wineries to...

Good book of the Bayou.(Off THE SHELF)
June 1, 2009... As Bubba famously rattled on in the movie "Forrest Gump," shrimp is the "fruit of the sea." But with several varieties of shrimp available and countless ways to prepare the versatile crustacean, the market was in need of one reference guide...

Domestic Gulf shrimp remains a buyer's market: prices of Gulf browns and whites expected to stay down this year.(shrimp)
June 1, 2009... Domestic Gulf shrimp buy-face a favorable market he coming months--availability is up and prices are down so far this year. Gulf shrimp landings from January to March nearly reached 11 million pounds, up more than 3,700 pounds from the same...

Farmed salmon prices on the rise: Chile's ISA woes reverberate across the global market.(salmon)
June 1, 2009... Chile's well-documented struggles with infectious salmon anemia (ISA) continue to grip the global farmed salmon market. The first quarter of this year was marked by declining production in Chile and rising prices worldwide. During that...

Domestic catfish production decreases: sales continue to decline, but prices are on the rise.(whitefish)
June 1, 2009... The lag in domestic catfish production has carried over from last year. Production of processed catfish in March was down 7 percent, to 44.8 million pounds, from the same month last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's...

Yellowfin supply narrows: imports dominate U.S. market.(FOCUS)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Certain tuna stocks have dwindled in recent years, especially bluefin tuna, prized for its eye-catching ruby red loins. The situation for yellowfin tuna, which many sushi chefs claim is the next-best thing, is not as...

Low prices keep lobster supplies down: Canadian lobstermen reluctantly reduce demands.(shelfish)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... The live American lobster market picked in 2009 up where it left off last year. It's a buyer's market--demand is sluggish and prices are depressed. In New England, lobstermen are seeing prices as low as $3.75 to $4 a pound at the boat, and...

Catfish sales increase 6.4 percent: Central, South drive demand for the whiskered finfish.(catfish)
June 1, 2009... While catfish has never had the cachet in the seafood display case that other fish such as salmon or swordfish have had, the finfish is gaining popularity as a less expensive whitefish that is high in vitamin D. Catfish sold in the fresh...

Staying on the shelf: higher prices deter frugal consumers from choosing seafood over other proteins.(Top Story)(Cover story)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the midst of an economic downturn, consumers find themselves in somewhat uncharted waters as they struggle to prioritize spending and adopt a new frugality. In light of lay-offs and cutbacks, discretionary...

Basa/swai: importers position pangasius as plentiful, economical whitefish alternative.(Top species)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the ongoing effort to market versatile, plentiful whitefish fillets to the American public, basa (Pangsius bocourti) and its more abundant cousin, swai (Pangasius hypothalmus), have entered the U.S. restaurant and...

Prepared interest peaks: retailers, suppliers develop new RTC seafood items.(What's in Store)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While customers at chain supermarkets seem to be avoiding the higher-priced protein during the recession [see Top Story, page 16], some upscale independent retailers are finding their customers are cooking seafood...

From Peru with ceviche: Chef Gaston Acurio brings the flavors of Peru to U.S. market.(Behind the Line)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The current economic climate is not a friendly time for any restaurateur to debut, but Chef Gaston Acurio is confident that the Peruvian cuisine he features at La Mar Cebicheria Peruana on San Francisco's Embarcadero...

Wait for 2011.(Restaurant NOTES)(food service industry forecast )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... The foodservice industry climate will remain challenged for the next 12 to 18 months, with no real growth in consumer spending until 2011, according to Arjun Chakravarti of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Chakravarti's...

Chefs get paid less.(Restaurant NOTES)
June 1, 2009... In a salary survey conducted by StarChefs. com, the online magazine for culinary insiders, executive chef salaries dropped significantly in 2008 after four years of steady increases. Previously, they averaged $77,611 per year. In 2008,...

A healthy bite of fried.(Restaurant NOTES)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Despite the focus on healthy foods, a Technomic study has found that consumers are not migrating away from fried foods. While more than half of survey respondents said they would curtail or avoid fried foods, the study predicts that over the...

Shrinking the carbon footprint: distributor focus on reduced carbon pays off; harvesters work to increase fuel efficiency.(Going Green)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] John Rorapaugh is working on a monster project, so far tackled only by a few in the seafood marketplace. Rorapaugh, who handles Sustainability for ProFish, a Washington, D.C., distributor, is trying to place a carbon...

Keeping it cool: processors try different ice systems to increase efficiency, extend product shelf life.(Product Spotlight)(Sunwell Deepchill)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Processors can eliminate losses due to shrinkage and shortened shelf life by using an effective ice machine tailored to the requirements of a specific seafood operation. Just ask Prince Edward Aqua Farms, a seafood...

Phillips Foods.(People in the News)
June 1, 2009... Chrism Ingalls joined Phillips Foods of Baltimore as sales manager focused on the western United States. Ingalls' role is to acquire new customers, focusing on seafood specialty distributors as well as broadliners. In addition, she will assist...

Trans-Ocean Products.(People in the News)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Trans-Ocean Products appointed two industry veterans to manage its new shrimp business. Norio Yanagisawa, procurement and product manager, is responsible for purchasing shrimp from a global network of farms and processing companies that meet...

Limestone M&A Alliance.(People in the News)
June 1, 2009... Two Kentucky business intermediaries, Jay Knoblett and Mark Sievers, have formed Limestone M&A Alliance, which will operate as a consortium of independent companies to respond to economic challenges by facilitating faster-paced information...

Harvest Select Catfish.(People in the News)(Mark Hasty )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Harvest Select Catfish welcomed Mark Hasty to the company as southwest regional sales manager, responsible for growing foodservice and retail sales in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and the West Coast. Prior to joining Harvest Select,...

Bell Aquaculture.(People in the News)
June 1, 2009... Bell Aquaculture of Redkey, Ind., named Mark Leavell inside sales manager. Leavell previously worked for Coca-Cola Enterprises for 10 years, as well as Tree of Life Midwest and Pakmail.

Hanson Logistics.(People in the News)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hanson Logistics, a provider of end-to-end temperature-controlled transportation, warehousing and supply-chain services, promoted Andrew Janson to president. Janson was previously the company's executive VP of...

P.E.I. Mussel Industry Council.(People in the News)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... The newly established Mussel Industry Council of Prince Edward Island, Canada, named Peter Burdon as its first executive director. Burdon was previously executive director of the Exterior Insulation Finish Systems Council of Canada and the CEO...

Linda Bean's Perfect Maine.(People in the News)(Margaret Salt McLellan)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Margaret Salt McLellan was named executive chef of Linda Bean's Perfect Maine, a group of companies that markets a line of value-added Maine lobster products. McLellan, who is also the current Maine Lobster Chef of the Year, is a Maine native...

A cut above.(PROCESSING EQUIPMENT)
June 1, 2009... Whizard[R] Series II Trimmers are now available from Bettcher Industries. The 1900 models are designed for salmon slicing and other seafood trimming applications and produce long, wide slices for more attractive retail packaging. In addition,...

Clear-cut portioning.(PROCESSING EQUIPMENT)(Marel Food System I-Cut 10)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Marel Food System introduces the I-Cut 10, a compact, single-lane portion cutter designed for optimizing fixed weight production. The I-Cut 10 cuts accurately to fixed weight and/or length at a highspeed, improving yield and reducing shrink....

Fine fillets.(VALUE-ADDED)(Eastern Fisheries SeaFine)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Eastern Fisheries, the world's largest scallop provider, adds SeaFine frozen sole fillets to its product line. Caught in the cold, pristine waters of Alaska, Eastern's premium sole is naturally low in fat and calories. Consistent and fresh, the...

Restaurant shrimp at home.(VALUE-ADDED)
June 1, 2009... Tampa Maid's oven-ready jumbo butterfly shrimp are premium P&D shrimp butterflied and coated with unique oven-ready breadcrumbs. The shrimp are trans-fat free yet deliver a golden, crispy crunch that delivers restaurant-quality flavor to the...

Seafood calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2009... JUNE June 3-6 Southeastern Fisheries Association Annual Meeting Beachside Resort & Conference Center Key West, Fla. (850) 224-0612 www.southeasternfish.org JULY July 2-4 International Livestock and...

Dave Racicot.(One on One)(Interview)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you want an honest answer about the Pittsburgh dining scene, ask Dave Racicot. Just be prepared, you might not like the answer. If you want to taste the talents of a driven, award-winning chef, take a vacation at...