The Business of Seafood Archives

Seattle Fish Company is 105 years old, and it’s easy to become sentimental on our history when seeing the recent accomplishments of chefs and restaurants in Colorado. Colorado’s culinary scene is getting noticed, with five restaurants recently earning Michelin stars and dozens more receiving recommendations. The recognized restaurants have to have the best skill, service, and ingredients to become noticed by Michelin. Seattle Fish is honored to have many of the recognized restaurants as customers, and proud to source and distribute top quality proteins to these talented chefs.

Colorado’s food scene has been slowly growing. Seattle Fish Co. has been distributing fresh seafood to the Rocky Mountains since 1918. The story goes that our founder, Mose Iacino, created a system for transporting fresh seafood to the landlocked state of Colorado by packing fresh fish in sawdust and ice to be shipped by railcar from Seattle (hence, naming the company “Seattle Fish Co.”).

Today, fresh and frozen seafood, packed in special shipping containers to preserve quality, is transported into Denver seven days a week from hand-selected suppliers on American coasts and in port cities around the world. Once it arrives in Denver, it is then sent out to over 800 restaurants & retail stores across Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho.

Colorado has been known to have a progressive food scene, with chefs flocking to the city from both coasts for the opportunity to define their own style of cooking. We are excited by the growth of Colorado’s food scene and look forward to the new restaurants coming to town. We will continue to sustainably source top quality proteins for the Rocky Mountain region.

Congratulations to all the Michelin Guide recognized restaurants and chefs – including,

1 Star Recipients: Bosq, The Wolf’s Tailor, Beckon, Bruto, Frasca Food and Wine
Green Star Recipients: Blackbelly Market, Bramble & Hare, Bruto, The Wolf’s Tailor
Bib Gourmand status: AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q, Ash’Kara, Basta, The Ginger Pig, Glo Noodle House, Hop Alley, La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, Mister Oso, Tavernetta
Recommended by Michelin: A5 Steakhouse, Barolo Grill, Dio Mio, Dushanbe Tea House, element 47, Fruition, Hey Kiddo, Guard and Grace, Marco’s Coal Fired, Mawa’s Kitchen, Mercantile Dining & Provision, Mirabelle, Noisette, Oak at Fourteenth, Oliva, Osaki’s, Potager, Prospect, Q House, Safta, Santo, Smok, Splendido, Stella’s Cucina, Sweet Basil, Temaki Den, Wyld, Zoe Ma Ma

Seattle Fish employee’s Chris Franklin and Natalie Kayton recently visited Norwegian salmon partner, Kvarøy Artic, to learn more about the process of raising farmed salmon. This trip showcased the past history of fish farming in Norway, the present technology to create a sustainable model in aquaculture, and the future innovation of farmed salmon.

Like Seattle Fish, Kvarøy is built on the core values of family and sustainability. Kvarøy Island is a small community of about 70 people that have been salmon farming for three generations. They have used their decades of farming experience, alongside investing in new aquaculture technology, to create a premium Norwegian salmon.

Kvarøy has become innovators in using Stingray laser technology which detects, logs, and zaps sea lice off salmon. Some farmers use antibiotics to get rid of sea lice, but this is an innovative way to address the issue while being antibiotic free. Sea lice are harmful to salmon, so this new technology is effectively eliminating the issue and also has zero impact on the salmon due to their mirror-like skin which reflects the lasers.

SFC loves partnering with forward-thinking vendors who are thinking – “How can we do this better?”

During this trip, the Seattle Fish team visited the smolt facility, three salmon farms, and 1814 – Kvarøy’s new state-of-the-art processing plant near Oslo’s airport.

The salmon start at the smolt facility as eggs, hatch, and then move into circular tanks to grow in freshwater. When the salmon become strong enough to live in seawater, they are called smolt and are transferred to floating pens off Kvarøy Island.

The smolt begin to grow in 39-59 degrees Fahrenheit seawater and an active current. The pens are placed between two open fjords which create optimal clean water and healthy salmon. The salmon grow in the pens and hit market size in around eighteen months.

Once grown to size, the fish are filleted and portioned at 1814. Previously, the salmon was processed in neighboring countries, so in opening 1814, Kvarøy is able to shorten the carbon footprint and simplify the supply chain.

 Seattle Fish is proud to source a Norwegian salmon that is sustainably raised, high-quality, and well-certified. We value partnerships with vendors who are sustainably looking to grow aquaculture.

Thank you to the Kvarøy team for hosting Seattle Fish and teaching us more about the process prior to Kvarøy salmon landing in Denver! Click below for video content from this trip:

Part 1

Part 2

Sustainability is a core value at Seattle Fish and our involvement with Sea Pact helps provide us with an understanding of what’s happening in the seafood industry and the most up to date information on the best purchasing practices.

Seattle Fish Co. is a founding member of Sea Pact – a group of leading North American Seafood Companies dedicated to driving stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic, and environmental responsibility throughout the global seafood supply chain. A customer of Seattle Fish should have confidence that when there’s an option – we will always choose the most sustainable product.

The twelve members of Sea Pact – Seattle Fish Company, Euclid Fish Company, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Inland Seafood, Ipswich Shellfish Group, J.J. McDonnell, North Atlantic Inc., Santa Monica Seafood, Seacore Seafood, Stavis Seafoods, Acme Smoked Fish, & Blue Ocean Mariculture – are updated with information by the following NGOs – Fish Wise, Sustainable Fisheries Partnerships, Multiplier, and Ocean Outcomes. This streamline of information provides the members of Sea Pact with the clearest information in order to responsibly source for their customers.

The NGOs look at the most influential seafood sales and actively look to provide funding for items able to create a large difference in the industry. Hamish Walker, SFC’s Chief Sustainability and Development Officer, and Sam Grimley, Sea Pact’s Executive Director, provided insight into project funding and updates on current initiatives.

Sea Pact provides funding for both wild and farmed fishing projects. Our membership, and inherently our customers’ loyalty to Seattle Fish, helps provide improvements on sustainability in the seafood industry. Two projects the members of Sea Pact are currently working on are the Seafood Literacy retail education and the Ocean Era/Center for Aquaculture Technologies project to use fermented seaweed to feed farmed salmon.

The Seafood Literacy retail project will support education of retail seafood counter associates via a 4-hour e-learning program. With seafood counter employees being known to have a high turnover rate, it is imperative to have a user-friendly course to teach employees about why sustainable seafood matters, types of fishing and aquaculture methods, and knowledge about seafood topics that consumers often inquire about. Seattle Fish is passionate about educating our retail partners and store employees about products we carry and ways we responsibly source.

There is an ongoing focus to reduce the environmental footprints or diets for farmed fish, and now with the Ocean Era’s Sea Pact funded project, they are developing a process for fermentation of seaweeds to render them more digestible for fish. Sam referred to this as “partially digested seaweed” and this idea could change the game on how we feed farmed fish.

There is growing interest in the culture of seaweed for the environmental and socio-economic benefits. Seaweed is incredibly efficient to grow – requiring no land area, freshwater, or fertilizer, and absorbs carbon dioxide. With 70% of earth being ocean, we should begin to think creatively about using the ocean to grow crops or feed for livestock.

Currently, salmon feed mainly consists of fish oil and fishmeal from, for example, wild anchoveta as well as terrestrial crops like soy and corn. While salmon tend to be picky carnivorous animals, the initial results of the projects show positive possibilities that we could feed fish with a plant that helps its environment.

Feeding farmed salmon seaweed could continue to decrease the environmental impact of raising farmed fish. Hamish made the point that fish make great livestock, with a fraction of the farming carbon footprint that cows have. Using seaweed in their feed could improve that even more, as well as reducing reliance on soy and corn which have their own impacts on soil health and freshwater quality.

A Seattle Fish Co. customer is in default supporting the growth of aquaculture education, fishery habitat and wild stock enhancement restoration, and fishery improvements projects. In the near future, Sea Pact will be including outcomes and pictures of their projects on their website, which will help show the history and results. We are grateful to our Seattle Fish customers for choosing to buy from us, as the support helps the growth of aquaculture and sustainable wild fishing practices through our involvement with companies like Sea Pact!

Seattle Fish Company & Lombardi Brothers Meats are excited to announce that Phil Newton has been promoted to the role of Center of the Plate Specialist. In this role, Phil will work directly with our sales team and our customers to share more information on the growing number of “center-of-the-plate” proteins we offer.

Phil started his career at Seattle Fish Co. in April 2016 and has worked in almost every operations position, which makes him uniquely qualified for this new role as COP specialist. Most recently, he was a member of our retail merchandising team, helping to educate seafood managers at the King Soopers/City Market stores in Colorado. He’s also been an avid fisherman and wild game hunter for most of his life.

After Seattle Fish Co.’s acquisition of Lombardi Brothers Meats, it became important to have someone on the team who is dedicated to learning and sharing everything there is to know about the many proteins we offer, including angus beef, chicken, pork, lamb, wild game, and, of course, seafood! Phil’s responsibilities will include sampling, expanding product knowledge and placements, building on existing relationships with customers, menu ideation, and much more.

In his time at SFC, Phil says his time developing a seafood training program for Kroger was his most memorable project. “We developed a 6-hour training course from scratch for Kroger to train all of their seafood employees on selling, cutting and handling fresh & frozen seafood,” says Phil. “It also taught them the biology and life cycles of all the seafood they handle. Many of these folks start behind the seafood counter but don’t have a base knowledge of the products they are selling, and we wanted to ensure they had the proper training to interact with the consumers who buy their seafood from Kroger.”

“I’ve watched Phil grow and expand into every role he has had at SFC,” says Brandi Mata, Lead Gourmet/Certified Angus Beef Specialist. “His experience across the company gives him a dynamic perspective for problem solving and implementing new processes. He uses every opportunity he can to gain knowledge and lift up everyone around him. You can’t walk through this building without running into someone that would say ‘Oh Phil! I love that guy!'”

If you are interested in meeting with Phil to discuss any of our products, email him at pnewton@seattlefish.com or ask your sales rep for more information!

Get to know Phil Newton better by reading his Q&A below!  

What are you the most excited about experiencing in your new role at SFC? 

Working with all of the amazing chefs we have here in Colorado!

What are your favorite ways to unwind outside of work?

I like gardening, cooking, snowboarding, going to the shooting range, spending time with family and friends, and most importantly eating!

What’s your favorite seafood? How do you like to prepare it?

Being from Cleveland, any preparation of walleye hits the spot. I spent many years fishing for walleye with my grandfather, so it holds a special place in my heart.

By: Natalie Kayton (Seattle Fish Co. Purchaser & Content Creator)

Have you ever wondered how fresh fish and meat is delivered to Aspen, Colorado? Seattle Fish & Lombardi Meats’ delivery drivers get to the warehouse at 2 AM to deliver product to our customers. I was able to ride-a-long Route 14 with David, one of our rockstar drivers who typically drives the Aspen route!

This day proved to me the endurance, strength, and strategy involved in being a delivery driver. Delivery drivers are a key part of the business as they are the last part of the supply chain. They are a reoccurring face for our customers and are the final step to having a successful delivery!

I joined on a Saturday, which is otherwise known as the “light day,” and yet there was nothing light about it! Aspen is a food lovers’ town – it does not lack great restaurants and we love supplying great products.

Typically, the driver of this route is clocking in at 2 AM and coming back around 4 PM. But with Saturday being the second weekend shipment, it carries less volume than Friday’s delivery and is typically completed between 3 AM-2 PM. By the time we finished, I couldn’t imagine delivering more product!

David – a seasoned driver who knows how to put it into the next gear – focused on the best places to park for optimal time spent per delivery, stacking the boxes for even weight distribution, and double checking each invoice to make sure all was accounted for.

With a plethora of phenomenal chefs in Aspen, the delivery drivers are hustling to deliver products in time to be prepped for dinner service. Delivering the product in time to customers quickly turns into a 5-hour workout!

Not to mention, the drive to and from the mountain town is strenuous. SFC and Lombardi drivers focus on the steep hills and sharp curves of I-70 to complete a safe product drop. We provide year-round deliveries despite harsh conditions.

Delivery drivers are a fundamental part of getting fresh fish and meat to the small mountain towns of Colorado. Thank you, drivers, for all you do!

If you are interested in joining our team, visit www.seattlefish.com/careers. To watch Natalie’s recap video of her day shadowing David, click here!

Category Archives: The Business of Seafood

Sourcing Top Quality Proteins for Colorado Chefs

Farmed Salmon: Filled with Tradition, Innovation, and Good People

Sea Pact: Sustainable Sourcing for the Future of Seafood

Meet Phil Newton – Center of the Plate Specialist

Get to know Phil Newton better by reading his Q&A below!

A Day in the Life of a Mountain Delivery Driver – Employee Spotlight