SeaFood Business Special Advertising Supplement

2008/2009 SEASON
Sixth Edition
SeaFood Business
Special Advertising Supplement
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 1
12/4/08 9:33:08 AM
Ocean Garden
Authentic Mexican Shrimp
is showcased in
Sizzling Samba Baja Shrimp
Rum
Pineapple Emulsion
Boniato Tian
Ancho Aioli
Developed by
Executive Chef
Bernard Guillas
The Marine Room
La Jolla, Calif.
©O
nG
ce a
a rd
en P
ro d
uc t
s
Visit www.oceangarden.com for this
and other recipes from top chefs.
Photo by Greg Ronlov
at Moebius Colorworks
2
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 2
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:33:21 AM
2008/2009 SEASON
Sixth Edition
Copyright © 2008
121 Free St.
P.O. Box 7438
Portland, ME
04112-7438
(207) 842-5606
Fax: (207) 842-5603
SeaFood Business
Special Advertising Supplement
Contents
5
Sustainability story
Authentic Mexican shrimp
satisfy today’s hottest culinary movement
12
A menu must-have
Discriminating chefs choose
Ocean Garden authentic Mexican shrimp
20
A retail star
When it comes to wild
or farmed shrimp, tasting is believing
© Ocean Garden Products
Letter from Shawn Hester
Alto Golfo Sustentable
Interview: Arturo Carlos
On the cover:
Brian Malarkey, the once Top Chef
contender, makes shrimp sizzle
as executive chef at The Oceanaire
Seafood Room in San Diego.
www.oceangarden.com
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 3
Q & A with Oceanaire’s Brian Malarkey
Shrimp-sizing guide
Ocean Garden dish profiles
4
7
11
14
19
24
Mexican Shrimp
Publisher
Bill Springer
Editor-in-chief
Fiona Robinson
Contributing Writers
Christine Blank
Lauren Kramer
Joan Lang
Art Director
Laura Dobson
3
12/4/08 9:33:35 AM
Ocean Garden–
A world of possibilities
The choice
K
nown for their bold flavor and firm texture, Ocean Garden® Mexican shrimp
enjoy a level of prestige among top restaurant chefs and seafood lovers, because
the shrimp are grown and harvested in an idyllic habitat and the industry has
a long-standing commitment to quality. You can be assured that you are buying “all
natural” shrimp with tremendous consistency in size and quality.
Ocean Garden® is committed to producing sustainable harvested
wild and farmed raised Mexican shrimp. As a founding member
of the sustainability group Alto Golfo Sustentable, Ocean Garden®
has taken a leadership role to protect the endangered vaquita marina
porpoise and the Sea of Cortez environment, improve the efficiency
of the shrimp fishery and support the native fishermen.
We’re pleased to share information to help with your decision
to purchase Ocean Garden® Mexican shrimp. Whether you are
concerned with quality, sustainability or the wide culinary options
of Mexican shrimp, you’ll find more information in the following
pages to make an informed purchase. From traditional shrimp cocktail, grilled
shrimp or various other culinary presentations, Ocean Garden® Mexican shrimp
offers a world of possibilities.
© Ocean Garden Products
of top
restaurant
chefs,
Ocean
Garden’s
Mexican
shrimp brands
are your
guarantee
of premium
quality,
consistency,
and a
commitment to
environmental
sustainability.
Shawn Hester
Marketing Director
Ocean Garden Products
Corporate Office
Southeast Region
Northwest Region
Hawaii
San Diego, CA
(800) 4-SHRIMP
(858) 790-3200
www.oceangarden.com
Atlanta, GA
(800) 241-6189
Edmonds, WA
(425) 776-7003
Rainbow Sales
& Marketing
Southcentral Region
Northeast/Central Region
Pearl City, HI
(808) 487-6455
Arlington, TX
(800) 772-5364
Upper Saddle River, NJ
(201) 934-9191
Canada
Southwest Region
4
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 4
Anaheim, CA
(800) 486-3055
Bellemont Powell
Borcherville, Québec
(450) 641-2661
Mexican Shrimp
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:34:12 AM
A sustainability story
Ocean Garden Mexican shrimp satisfy today’s hottest culinary movement
By Joan Lang
a. Of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting
or using a resource so that the resource is not
depleted or permanently damaged b. Of, or relating
to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods
c. As applied to the human community, sustainability
has been expressed as meeting the needs of the
present without compromising the abilityy off future
f
generations to meet their own needs.s.
Anybody who thought
the whole sustainability
thing was just another
transient food trend could
not be more wrong. In the pastt
several years, sustainability of the food
supply has become increasingly important
to manufacturers, chefs and retailers, and is
starting to show up as more than just a blip on
consumers’ radar.
“Sustainability is a growing
concern to customers,” affirms
Russell Lowell, chef-owner of
Russell Dean Lowell Catering and two Russell’s restaurants in the Seattle area. Lowell
has been buying Ocean Garden wild Mexican shrimp for
a number of years, both for its
quality and its adherence to
sustainability standards.
Indeed, concern about the
www.oceangarden.com
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 5
sustainability of food products
has moved beyond the vanguard
of cutting-edge chef/restaurateurs and upscale grocers. The
trendspotting Hartman Group
in Rochester, N.Y., has identified
sustainability and other values
associated with “green” living as
being a major and lasting force to
contend with in the coming years,
accelerating in both consumer demand and corporate importance.
In particular, educated whitecollar workers and college students, plum target markets for
both the foodservice and retail
industries, are picking up the
sustainability banner, actively
seeking out and willing to pay
more for sustainable options.
Sustainable seafood
Many fisheries worldwide have
in recent years
year turned to certification
programs
ti
llike the Marine
SStewardship Council and the Best
ci
Aquaculture Practices
Aqu
program to verify the sustainability of the
their product.
But not all
a fisheries managers have turned
turne to a certification
program to tout
to the sustainability of its seafood. Ocean Garden
Products has been consistently
way ahead of the curve on the issue of sustainability as it pertains
to Mexican shrimp, both wild
and farmed, (see page 7) and is
one of the reasons so many chefs
and retailers choose the brand
when sourcing shrimp.
“It’s taken some time, but [the
public is] finally starting to realize
that we’re ruining the planet and
depleting our oceans,” says Robert
Conti, executive chef of Performance Food Group AFI Foodservice, a major foodservice distributor
in Elizabeth, N.J. “We’re getting
a lot more interest in responsibly sourced product like Mexican
shrimp as a result.”
Mexican Shrimp
© Ocean Garden Products
Sustainable can be defined as:
5
12/4/08 9:34:27 AM
and they don’t shrink
nk like
pumped shrimp, makingg them a
better value.”
While the USDA only
nly provides guidelines for beef
and
eef an
nd
other meat, the word “natunatu
na
tu-tu
ral” has legitimately come
me to
to
mean “minimally processed”
ed”
for a whole generationn off
food-conscious individuals.
duals
ls.
ls
And natural also defines authentic Mexican shrimp.
“The chefs and restaurateurs
who care about quality and sustainability buy Ocean Garden
shrimp,” continues Conti, a Culinary Institute of America grad
who worked in restaurants from
the age of 16 before moving to
the supply side.
“I do a lot of consulting with
customers on their menus and
purchasing strategies, and I’ve
really seen a groundswell in interest for products that are not
only high-quality, but also as
natural and responsibly raised or
harvested as possible. People are
definitely getting on board with
the sustainability issue.”
Indeed, the fact that Ocean
Garden Mexican shrimp are
raised or harvested and processed
as naturally as possible is a huge
quality consideration, as well
as an answer to growing ecopolitical concerns. “They’re not
‘pumped’ with sodium tripolyphospate [which binds moisture
Shrimp in its natural state
Great care is taken
to protect the
environment and the
shrimp, as well as
the stability of the
fishing industry.
during freezing, adding weight]
like inferior shrimp,” says Conti.
“Not only are they natural, but
they also maintain their superior texture and flavor through
the thawing and cooking process,
best shrimp in the world, untainted by pollution and protected from overfishing.
Great care is taken in their harvest to protect both the environment and the shrimp themselves
6
Mexican Shrimp
Both wild and farmed Mexican shrimp exist in the most
natural possible state throughout
their lives.
Wild shrimp from Mexico
swim freely in some of the most
unspoiled and beautiful waters
on the planet, feeding on a natural marine diet that helps develop
their extraordinary flavor and
texture. In these pure, pristine
waters, Mexican brown and white
shrimp develop into some of the
© Ocean Garden Products
“The
chefs and
restaurateurs
who care about
quality and
sustainability
buy Ocean
Garden
shrimp.”
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 6
nott to
no
t
mention
the ongoing economic stability
of the fishing industry.
Both wild and farmed shrimp
fisheries are highly regulated by
the Mexican government and
managed for the long term. These
regulations range from strictly
controlled seasonal openings and
closures, to trawling methods that
minimize impact on the environment and severely limit unintentional bycatch.
Ocean Garden has taken
additional measures to ensure
product quality protects the environment. The company has
been widely recognized for its
traceability program that utilizes a barcode and electronic
database to track a shrimp’s lifecycle from product origin, processing plant, lot and warehouse
to truck/shipping method.
As a result, seafood buyers can
be sure that they are purchasing
shrimp from legal fisheries whose
practices comply with all U.S.
and Mexican environmental standards and regulations, as well as
provisions set forth in the historic
Alto Golfo Sustentable sustainability agreement. Whether from
shrimp farms or wild harvest,
100 percent of Mexican shrimp
imported into the U.S. by Ocean
Garden is traceable from the enduser back to the processing plant.
Alto Golfo Sustentable was
first establised as a monitoring
program to eradicate illegal fishing during the off-season. The
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:34:39 AM
©
surveilla
surveillance
program
has help
helped to limit
environmental
environmen damage
and protect endangered
species, iincluding the
marina
rare vaquita
vaq
porpoise iin the Upper
Gulf of California.
Califo
the 2006-07
During th
season, for instance, in
Upper
the important
import
Gulf
G
Gu
lf fishing communities
of San Felipe, Puerto Peñasco and
the Gulf of Santa Clara, bipartisan observers from several different organizations monitored
trawlers and pangas (Mexican
fishing boats), fishing gear and
techniques to avoid contact with
the vaquita marina.
The program to monitor
no-fishing zones during the
off-season has also met with
significant success.
“The obvious lack of shrimp
in local markets during the offseason was a clear indication that
the surveillance program was successful,” notes Arturo Carlos (see
sidebar, p. 11), Ocean Garden’s
quality assurance manager and the
president of Alto Golfo Sustentable (“Sustainable Upper Gulf”),
a broad group committed to sustainability that is focused not
only on protecting the environment and endangered species, but
also the livelihood of local fishing communities.
These practices are continually being improved as technology and research advances. For
instance, thanks to a new accord between private industry,
non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and the Mexican government, fishermen have been actively upgrading their equipment
to avoid unintended contact with
the vaquita marina by eliminating
large-mesh nets (over 6 inches).
There is also recognition of the
importance of fishing as a way
Oc
ea
nG
ar
de
n
www.oceangarden.com
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 7
TheUpper Gulf : Sustainability in motion
Alto Golfo Sustentable progress moves sustainability issue forward
By Lauren Kramer
I
t has been three years since Ocean
Garden Products became a founding
member of Alto Golfo Sustentable, an
organization that works with Mexican
fishermen and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to promote
sustainability in the Upper Gulf of
California. The impetus for AGS was to
create a monitoring program that would
ultimately eradicate illegal shrimp fishing
during the off-season, eliminate the
incidental bycatch of the vaquita marina
porpoise (Phocoena sinus) and improve
shrimp fishing efficiency in the region.
“AGS created a place for fishermen,
NGOs, shrimp marketers and the government to come together and talk about the
management of fisheries resources,” says
Peggy Turk Boyer, executive director of
the Intercultural Center for the Study of
Desert and Oceans located in the Mexican community of Puerto Peñaso, Sonora.
AGS worked with the Mexican government to declare a new refuge area for the
vaquita porpoise. In addition, the group
outlined the management of the program
and improved surveillance of illegal fishing. Boyer says there is a sense of optimism in the air.
“I think the fishermen in Puerto Peñasco are very appreciative of the opportunity AGS has offered them to be involved
in dramatic change in this region,” she
says. “The Upper Gulf Reserve and the
Vaquita Refuge are the stage for a new
era of fisheries activities wherein fisheries
management will improve, will involve
local communities and will utilize better
strategies to protect many species.”
Lazaro Espinoza, a fisherman from
Puerto Peñasco, agrees. “The major
accomplishment of the AGS has been its
ability to unite fishermen, the states of
Sonora and Baja California and federal
authorities,” he says. “From the first meeting the fishermen felt confidence in the
ability to express their needs, a confidence
that begins when you see people from all
Mexican Shrimp
different levels working together, all with
the same purpose.”
Initially, Espinoza says, the fishermen
did not feel fondly toward the demise of
the vaquita marina. “We felt rage because
we felt that the animal was more important to the world than a human being. But
through the work of the AGS, we were able
to appreciate the care needed to prevent its
extinction, and also appreciate the efforts
being made to ensure the survival of the
fishermen. Today we thank the AGS for
teaching us the word sustainability, since
many of us did not know about it.”
The vaquita porpoise was targeted for
protection due to its alarming population decline due to incidental bycatch
and drowning in gill nets used in finfish
and shrimp fisheries. “This porpoise
only lives in coastal waters of the Upper
Gulf,” Boyer explains. “If we can’t find a
way to coexist with the vaquita and other
animals in our coastal waters, they will
simply disappear.”
According to Boyer, the fishermen of
the Upper Gulf are playing an important
role in defining how to protect not just
the vaquita, but also other porpoises
around the world. “They have put their
livelihoods on the line to help save this
porpoise, and have been willing to stop
fishing activities and use of nets in this
region,” she says.
The Mexican government has given
them added incentive by delivering $15
million in a compensation program to
encourage reduced fishing and protection
of the vaquita marina. Announced in July
2007, the program gives fishermen financial incentive to retire their nets, to fish in
areas outside the protected area, and to
use alternative fishing gear that further
reduces the risk of interaction. At the
same time, funds were also dispersed to
continue the successful shrimp season
monitoring and off-season surveillance
program and to expand the program to
monitor other species in the region.
7
12/4/08 9:34:55 AM
© Ocean Garden Products
I’m a
creature
of repeat
quality,
and
that’s why
I buy from
Ocean
Garden.
8
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 8
of life. And as part of the AGS
program, fishermen in the Upper
Gulf are assisted in their voluntary transition to other industries
in their communities.
“Change in the Upper Gulf is
affecting the livelihoods of the
communities. A number of fishermen have decided to retire from
fishing to start new businesses,
others have reduced their fishing
effort, some others have moved
to other areas nearby to fish,
while others are participating in
the design and implementation
of alternative fishing gear,” says
Alejandro Robles, who works
for Noreste Sustentable, which is
involved with AGS.
“The bottom line: AGS is
changing the traditional culture
by expanding the horizon, which
in turn creates new opportunities
for sustainable fishing and alternative economic activities. In the
long term, success will be the result of the capacity to improve the
governance system in the region.”
Mexico’s farmed shrimp are
handled just as sustainably. For
one thing, most farmed Mexican
shrimp are grown in the sparsely
populated desert environment
Mexican Shrimp
of northwestern Mexico, rather
than in densely populated coastal
areas as they have been in Southeast Asia, where deforestation
of native mangrove habitat has
created a number of serious environmental problems. In Mexico,
by contrast, the addition of aquaculture has actually improved the
environment, helping to make the
area more productive overall.
In Mexico, shrimp are farmed
in conditions that are specifically designed to produce large,
flavorful, healthy shrimp: temperate climate, clean unspoiled
waters and close supervision at
every step of the process. It starts
with Penaeus vannamei, a Pacific
white shrimp, a species native
to Mexico with superior flavor
and textural attributes. Using
low-density ponds where ocean
water is replaced daily, not just
recirculated, significantly reduces
the need for antibiotics that are
often necessary to control viral
infections that can spread rapidly
in higher-density ponds.
In addition to being healthier and more natural, Mexican
farmed shrimp also have a clear
size advantage. Not only are they
raised at much lower average densities than Asian shrimp, but they
also go through a full, 170- to
180-day growth cycle. Compared
to the shorter, “fast-track” cycles
used in other countries, Mexican
aquaculture methods allow the
shrimp to reach maximum natural size, about twice as large as
pond-raised Asian shrimp. This
makes Mexico a consistently dependable source of premium-size
shrimp (from 26/30 extra large,
to 16/20 extra jumbos).
“I use a wild Mexican U-12
prawn because it will be firm
and flavorful,” says Bill Grier,
the owner, with his wife
Cindy, of Curry’s Landing, a
restaurant in the mixed-use development of Charbonneau, about
20 miles from Portland, Ore.
“That’s important when you’re
dealing with the kind of simple
preparations that we specialize
in, like scampi. But just as important, with Mexican shrimp I can
get the size I want, dependently
and consistently. I’m a creature
of repeat quality, and that’s why I
buy from Ocean Garden.”
a chef’s perspective
Bernard Guillas has long been
ahead of the curve when it comes
to using local, natural and sustainable products, not only in his
current post as executive chef of
the Marine Room Restaurant in
La Jolla, Calif., but throughout
his career.
“It goes back to my roots,” says
the French-born chef, whose family made their living as farmers.
“Growing up near the sea I always
had tremendous respect for the
ocean and the creatures in it.”
Now, in the United States,
he deplores what he considers
the potential devastation of the
ocean, and the natural environment as a whole, in a “hustle-bustle environment where we have a
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:35:09 AM
www.oceangarden.com
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 9
© Ocean Garden Products
tendency to go with convenience,
rather than balance.”
“Balance is important,” adds
Guillas. “Ecological balance and
personal balance, and what you
eat is who you are.”
Guillas believes that chefs have
an obligation to support sustainably raised foods. But seafood is
a particular challenge.
“For our fruits and vegetables, it has become easy to go to
farmers markets and get fresh
local products, but with fish
and shellfish you really have to
do your research,” he explains.
“You have to establish a good
relationship with local fishmongers and get to know what your
options are for the best quality
and ecologically sound choices.”
That’s why Guillas has always used Mexican shrimp from
Ocean Garden. “It’s the best, period. The flavor profile is incredible and the texture is superior.
And Mexican shrimp is a consistent product that’s very in-tune
with sustainability and what has
to be done to helpp the pplanet.”
Guillas
acknowledges
uillas ac
cknowledges that
there’s’s a catch
catch-22
h-22 with customers
who may be looking at shrimp
as a commodity,
commoddity, particularly in
the current economic climate.
“Mexican
xican shrimp
shrrimp do cost about
30 too 40 percent
peercent more than
regular
lar retail
retaiil shrimp, but it
comess back to
t what your
priorities
ities are,”
are,,” the chef
explains.
ins. “Mine,
“M
Mine, as
both a chef and
as someone
who can helpp
spread
ad the
word to my
customers,
mers,
is to promote sustainable
options.
I want
ant to
connect
ect with
growers, with
fisherman,
with
i h fi
h
ih
all the people who produce great
food, and help tell their story to
my customers.”
Guillas also sees his job as
helping to make such products
more exciting, to entice customers to try sustainably sourced
products and to support them
in turn. This takes the form not
only of innovative recipe development and care in cooking and
handling, but also working with
servers so that they, too, underof what
stand the importance
p
they are serving.
One of Guillas’ favorite new
preparations for Ocean Garden
wild Mexican shrimp is a
simple one: A
tartare that showcases not just
the shrimps’ pristine f lavor,
but also its wholesomeness. “It
bends all the rules, but it’s delicious,” he says. In fact, he loves
seafood tartares of all kinds,
from scallops and shrimp to
fish, for their freshness and elemental simplicity.
The shrimp shells, like many
chefs, Guillas insists on buying all his shrimp in the shell,
are used to make shrimp oil,
roasted slowly with lemongrass
and togarashi pepper to create an orangey-pink infusion
that adds color and flavor to a
variety of different dishes. He’ll
also roast whole shrimp in the
shell with such distinctive flavorings as zaatar and dukkah,
two iconic Middle Eastern spice
blends, as in a popular specialty
of Almond Zaatar Coated Baja
Prawns with vanilla pearl pasta,
eggplant, local kohlrabi sprouts
and blood orange vinaigrette.
A seven-hour drive away from
Guaymus, Mexico, Jim Murphy
considers Mexican shrimpp to be
a local product. The chefowner of Bluefin
Seafood
Chef Luis Cano at
Cucina Colore in
Denver features
Ocean Garden shrimp
in NEOPOLITAN
STYLE PIZZA
WITH SHRIMP.
the Fish City Grill
features Ocean
Garden shrimp in
THAI BBQ SHRIMP.
© O ce
a n Ga
rd e n
P ro d
uc ts
9
12/4/08 9:35:17 AM
© Ocean Garden Products
Chef Russell
Lowell’s menu
at Russell’s Bar
& Grill features
VEGETABLE
AND PRAWN
NAPOLEONS.
10
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 10
Bistro and
Kingfisher, an American bar and
grill
Ariz.,
ill in
i Tucson,
T
A i has
h been
b a
proponent of using local and sustainable product when possible.
“We try to buy the right fish
from the right water,” he says,
even while acknowledging that
the situation is becoming increasingly confusing — and challenging. “It’s about finding an honest
fishmonger. The customer has to
trust me that I’m selling what I’m
saying I am, and I have to trust
the purveyor that I’m getting
what I pay for. Ultimately, we all
have to trust the source.”
In the case of Mexican shrimp,
that’s a foregone conclusion: It is
what it’s made out to be. “I use
Ocean Garden shrimp almost
exclusively,” explains Murphy. “I
use the Mexican browns because
in my mind they have a better flavor, and I prefer the wild variety,
but they’ve done great things with
farm-raised white shrimp and I’ll
use them when wild shrimp are
out of season.”
Murphy serves a lot of shrimp
(about 50 pounds a week), especially when he comes back from
his annual summer road trip
with fresh new recipes. Every
year, he travels the country for
the best new ideas in American
Mexican Shrimp
regional
cuisine,
regi
re
g onal cuisine
returning with
re
wit
such
specials ch special
su
ties as avo
avocado-shrimp
cado-shrim
tostada, seasea
food gumbo
gumb
shrimp,
with shrimp
o r C r e ole barbecued
sstyle
st
yle barbecue
with
shrimp, made wit
sh
spices, Dixie Voodoo
sp
Voodo
Beer,
and
Beer
Be
e , butter, parsley an
lots
lo
t of garlic, then served in
i
tthee shell with a loaf of bread for
th
fo
dipping up all the great juices.
He also uses a dry spiced rub
ru
of cumin, chili powder, sugar,
sugar
paprika
ik andd cayenne to create
grilled and chilled shrimp instead
of the standard shrimp cocktail.
Other favorite seasonings include
olive oil and fresh herbs, and Old
Bay. The shrimp rest in these
seasonings for up to 36 hours, so
that they really absorb the flavor,
and then are peeled to the tail
darts and skewered, so that they
fan out in cooking and really fill
the plate.
Scott McGill of Hula Grill, a
TS Restaurant in Kaanapali on
the island of Maui, also celebrates
regional cuisine: specifically, that
of Hawaii. Designed to promote
the culture, architecture and cuisine, the restaurant does a landoffice business in what McGill
terms “farm to fork products”
from all over the island.
“About 75 to 80 percent of all
our ingredients are from Hawaii,
especially the local Maui produce,
and what we do bring in from
other places is for reasons of quality,” says McGill, including Midwestern beef and shrimp from
Mexico. “Wild Mexican shrimp
have an outstanding flavor and
texture and are more sustainable
than other types of shrimp, and
that’s important to me.”
With a seasonal menu that
changes four or five times a year,
McGill nonetheless has created
several signature shrimp dishes
that are always on the menu in
one form or another. These include pan-roasted shrimp with
macadamia nut pesto pasta; coconut seafood chowder (lobster,
shrimp, scallops and local Hawaiian shrimp simmered in coconut
cilantro broth); and a signature
wild shrimp cocktail.
For this popular appetizer,
the shrimp are marinated then
poached Thai-style in lime, lemongrass and ginger, for an Asian/
Pacific Rim flavor profile, then
served with a Thai basil, mint,
lemongrass, ginger and lime drizzle and a cocktail sauce made
with kefir lime and lemongrass.
“It’s light and refreshing, with
distinctive Asian flavors that
are typical of Hawaiian regional
cuisine,” says McGill. “But it’s
also typical of what we do as
chefs, adding flavor at every step
so that customers really notice
the difference.”
Like the cooking itself,
McGill’s interest in local and sustainable products began as what
McGill terms “a chef thing,” but
the more he learned about the
issues, the more it became clear
how important they were, not
just from the point of view of the
economy and the environment,
but also as a marketing strategy.
“In the last few years, it’s become really clear that there is a
destructive level of overfishing and
an abuse of aquaculture practices
that is unhealthy, for both the
planet and for human beings,” he
says. “Guests are starting to understand the importance of sustainable sourcing, too, and they
are supporting it. It’s a very nice
thing. That’s one of the reasons I
use Mexican shrimp.”
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:35:55 AM
Interview
© Ocean Garden Products
Arturo Carlos
Quality Assurance manager,
manager AGS president
By Lauren Kramer
A
© Ocean Garden Products
rturo Carlos has
had a lifelong
passion for marine
sciences. Ocean
Garden’s quality
assurance manager is a native
of Tijuana, Mexico, and has
worked with Ocean Garden
Products for 24 years in a
variety of positions, including
quality assurance protocol, staff
training at supplier processing
plants and development of a
traceability program for the
company’s products.
Carlos, 48, studied biochemical engineering at Mexico’s
Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de
Monterrey, graduating in 1984
with a major in marine sciences
and food technology. That same
year he became a quality control
inspector at Ocean Garden’s
Guaymas office in Mexico, relocating several times within the
company to work in Brownsville,
Texas, Los Angeles, and Ciudad
del Carmen, Campeche, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Progreso Yucatan,
Quintana Roo, San Felipe,
www.oceangarden.com
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 11
Ensenada and Cancun, Mexico.
“With all this moving around,
I had the opportunity to
familiarize myself with all of the
company’s products including
shrimp, abalone, lobster and fish
fillets, as well as gain knowledge
about different markets such as
Hong Kong, Japan, Europe and
Canada,” says Carlos.
In 1996, he was promoted to
his current position where he
directs the quality control and
quality assurance programs.
“I see to the specifications for
the products we’re buying, the
food-safety program, the design
and packaging material for those
products, the handling of logistics
and transportation and ensuring
that Ocean Garden complies to
the U.S. law and the laws in the
foreign markets in which we’re
involved,” he explains.
When Ocean Garden became a
founding member of Alto Golfo
Sustentable, its goal was twofold:
to understand the root of the
conservation issues facing
the Upper Gulf of California in
the Sea of Cortez, and to assist
in
i the economic and social issues
confronting
those communities
c
that
t depend on these fisheries.
Carlos, AGS president, says the
two
t go hand in hand.
“On the one hand, you have
environmental
issues regarding
e
important
and vulnerable species
i
like
l the vaquita marina porpoise,
but
b you also have social and
economic
issues that have to be
e
addressed.
For years the environa
mentalists
were blaming the
m
fishermen for the continual
decrease of the vaquita marina,
and the fishermen were denying
responsibility,” says Carlos.
AGS is a multi-stakeholder
group (fishermens, NGOs,
industry) that values and respects
individual opinions, allowing for
an open dialogue and inviting
participants in a collaborative
process that seeks the Upper
Gulf’s sustainability.
The group has played a major
role in the implementation of
conservation and management
programs for the region, not only
related to the vaquita, but to the
region’s fisheries as well. The
uniqueness of the group in terms
of its members has allowed it to
set agreements and begin implementing them in a short period
of time, something that others
have been trying to do for more
than a decade.
“At AGS, we all sat down at
a table and rather than blaming
each other, we started talking
and looking for real results. The
actions of AGS over the past
three years have been successful
enough to attract the interest
and attention of federal, state
and local governments.”
To date, says Carlos, the
vaquita porpoise is still endangered, “but the bycatch has
been reduced thanks to controls
instituted by the fishing community and the government in
the last two years. We’ve not
solved the problem yet,” he says.
“But at least we’re actively
working on it.”
Mexican Shrimp
Carlos plays
an integral
role with
Alto Golfo
Sustentable.
11
12/4/08 9:36:20 AM
A menu must-have
Discriminating chefs choose Ocean Garden Shrimp
By Joan Lang
© Ocean Garden Products
Q
12
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 12
uick: name a popular shrimp dish. If
you said “shrimp
cocktail” or “fried
shrimp,” you’ve only got part of
the story. Shrimp lends itself beautifully to a variety of different
preparation techniques and flavor
profiles, from simple elegant sautés to more assertively flavored
ethnic dishes, as forward-thinking
ard-thinking
chefs are discovering.
“There are so many
different things you
ou
can do with shrimp,”
says Patrick Fegan, chef of Olive
& Ivy Restaurant
& Marketplace in
Scottsdale, Ariz.,
part of Fox Restauurant Concepts. Olive
ve &
Ivy’s Mediterranean-style
ean-style
menu lends itself too such spespe
cialties as chopped salad with
shrimp, White Shrimp Risotto
and the Panzanella with Olive
Oil Poached Shrimp (see above
photo), the latter of which the
chef prepared for the Experience Scottsdale event held at this
summer’s Aspen Food & Wine
Classic. “It does so well in preparations that play up its sweetness and texture,” says Fegan.
In order to get the best possible f lavor from his shrimp
dishes, Fegan has become a
fan of Pacific white Mexican
shrimp, “so sweet and meaty
that it eats like a lobster tail,”
says Fegan, who specs U/10s
Mexican Shrimp
from Ocean Garden Products
exclusively. For his well-received
risotto, Fegan tops classic Parmesan risotto on a pool of arugula pesto with three pan-roasted
shrimp and a flavorful heirloom
tomato and cracked Parmesan
salad; light yet luxurious.
“Pan-roasting is an excellent
way to prepare these large Mexi-
© Ocean Garden Products
can shrimp,” notes the chef, who
pan-sears the shrimp, then it’s
finished in the oven with beurre
mante to add a rich buttery flavor. “The Ocean Garden U/10s
are meaty and thick enough so
that they can take a nice sear
and get a crisp brown exterior
with an interior that’s still moist
and delicious.”
Shrimp is the most popular
seafood in the United States at
4.1 pounds consumed per capita
in 2007 according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Mexican shrimp is loved for its
versatility and is widely used in a
variety of cuisines.
At Tao Restaurant, a trendy
pan-Asian restaurant in New
York, Executive Chef John Villa
uses shrimp extensively on the
menu, preferring Ocean Garden.
Menu specialties include Jumbo
Shrimp Tempura with Garlic
Chile Sauce, Crispy Lobster and
Shrimp Dumplings with Ginger
Jiang Kong Sauce, Braised Spicy
Shrimp with Chive Flowers and
Hong Kong XO Shrimp with
Long BBeans and Jasmine
Rice, as well as variRic
ous sushi preparaou
ttions i ncludi ng
the Spicy Shrimp,
King Crab and
Asparagus Roll.
A
“Any dish that
we make with shrimp
sells rreally well,” says
Villa, who uses Ocean Garden
U/15s. “I use Mexican shrimp
U/15s
because of our high volume. I
need the consistency they bring;
week in and week out, the product is reliable, and that’s very
important to me.”
Wild or farmed? It depends
Wild or farmed, authentic
shrimp from Mexico has the
flavor and texture to stand up
to such distinctive flavors and
cooking techniques. And chefs
do have their preferences, depending on the application: Wild
Mexican shrimp, particularly
browns, according to chefs, have
a crisper, more muscular texture
and a deeper, “shrimpier” flavor,
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:38:11 AM
© Ocean Garden Products
while farmed shrimp are available
more consistently year-round,
particularly in larger sizes, with
a sweet flavor that’s extremely
versatile on the menu.
“Yes, you can definitely
tell the difference,” says Tony
Hamati, chef/co-owner of Bravo
Bistro in Scottsdale, which specializes in Mediterranean-Italian cuisine. “I use both wild and
farm-raised shrimp for different applications, but it’s always
Ocean Garden Mexican shrimp.
I’ve been using it since 1985 and
I’m not about to change now.”
Hamati uses wild Mexican
shrimp for simple preparations,
such as sautéing and grilling “recipes without a lot of
other ingredients to interfere
with the delicious flavor of the
shrimp,” as he puts it. Case
in point: Shrimp baked in the
shell on a bed of kosher salt,
or shrimpp wrapped
pp in thinlyy
sliced prosciutto.
“I use a U/10 or a U/12 to
make a real statement, and they’re
so delicious they don’t even need
a sauce,” notes Hamati. But for
anything with a more elaborate preparation, like the chef’s
crowd-pleasing appetizer
of phyllo-wrapped
shrimpp withh a
sauce, the chef
sweet chile soy sauce
prefers the more neutral flavor of
a farmed shrimp.
“This is one of our topselling dishes,” says Hamati.
“Customers love these shrimp,
they look great, like a coconut
shrimp, and they taste wonderful, with a really crunchy
exterior, and moist and delicate
inside. If I took it off the menu,
I’d get massive complaints.”
Many of Kevin Marquet’s
best recipe ideas come from his
world travels.
“I came upp with the idea for
shrimp ceviche when I was sitting on a beach in Mexico, and
eating coctels de gambas [a Mexican street-food tradition of spicy
marinated shrimp],” says the
chef of The
9th Door in Denver, which specializes in tapas and other small
plates. “We chop raw shrimp
and marinate it in lime juice so it
‘cooks,’ then present it in a martini
glass with sliced avocado; light and
beautiful and delicious.”
Marquet uses farmed Ocean
Garden 16/20 shell-on Mexican shrimp, for their “consistently great” flavor and texture
that stands up to full-bodied
Spanish-style preparations . The
gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp)
is one of the top-selling items
on the menu; the shrimp are
sautéed in Spanish olive oil,
with a hint of garlic, pimenton
(smoked paprika), orange and
lemon peel and chile pequin.
“We do sell a ton of gambas,”
says Marquet.
SHRIMP TRIO
is a classic
presentation for
Chef Peter Budich
at McMahons Prime
Steakhouse.
Authentic Mexican shrimp offer tremendous consistencyy in size
and quality, making them an excellent value for the money.
“It’s the way they’re packed
Continued on page 16
ea
© Oc
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 13
“...they’re
so delicious
they don’t
even need
a sauce.”
Consistency sells
Continued
Con
ontin
tinued
tin
ued on
o page
ppage
g 16
www.oceangarden.com
GAMBERI SALAD
from Chef Luis Cano
at Cucina Colore
in Denver features
Ocean Garden shrimp.
n Ga
rd e n
P ro d
uc ts
13
12/4/08 9:38:32 AM
Brian Malarkey
“It’s like
you’ve never
really tasted
shrimp
before until
you’ve tasted
Mexican wild
shrimp.”
© Ocean Garden Products
Executive Chef, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, San Diego
B
rian Malarkey takes
his seafood seriously.
He has to; as executive
chef of the San Diego location
of The Oceanaire Seafood
Room, Malarkey is part
of one of the most highly
regarded seafood concepts in
the country, and his kitchen
in particular is one of the
most highly rated in the city.
With its daily-changing menu
of ultra-fresh seafood served
in a dining room decorated in
classic 1930s ocean-liner style,
Oceanaire is a top San Diego
seafood destination.
If Malarkey looks a little
familiar, then you might be
a fan of the Bravo television
show “Top Chef,” where he
made it close to the end of
season three (the one that the
controversial Hung Hyunh
won) before leaving in fourth
place. Although he calls the
experience “exhausting,” it was
also one of the greatest events
of his life, and he continues
contributing to the “Top
Chef” family with a blog on
the Bravo Web site.
A native of Oregon, cooking
seafood comes naturally to
Malarkey. He spent a year as a
theater major at Santa Barbara
City College in California
before deciding that cooking
was his passion, and he
enrolled in Western Culinary
Institute’s Le Cordon Bleu
Program in Portland,
Ore. After graduating, he
apprenticed under French chef
Michael Richard at Citrus in
Los Angeles, before taking
time to travel Europe and
Northern Africa to sample the
cuisines firsthand.
He worked in Minneapolis
for several years before landing
a spot as sous chef at The
Oceanaire Seafood Room
there, returning to the Pacific
Northwest to open the Seattle
location as executive sous
chef in 2001. Three years
later, he relocated to Southern
California to open The
Oceanaire in San Diego as the
restaurant’s executive chef and
operating partner.
Q. What’s your approach to
cooking seafood?
© Ocean Garden Products
With good fresh seafood, you
really want to keep it simple,
but because we’re Oceanaire we
present it with some flair and
pizzazz. We have some classic
specialties like Shrimp de Jonghe
and jumbo lump crab cakes on
all the menus, but a lot of what
we’re about is the daily catch:
fish like shad, Ivory king salmon
and halibut cheeks. Many of
14
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 14
Mexican Shrimp
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:38:53 AM
our fish are broiled or
grilled, with just a little
virgin olive oil, sea salt
and lemon.
Why have you decided to
start using Ocean Garden
Mexican wild shrimp?
How are you preparing it?
I came up with an idea for
char-grilled Mexican shrimp
on an heirloom watermelon
and tomato salad this summer.
I thought of all the foods you
eat at a barbecue, and so I
started playing around with
it. My produce guy brought
me some beautiful heirloom
golden watermelon, and I loved
the color. We butterfly the
shrimp in the shell to get the
flavor, and then we char-grill
them; hit them hard on the
grill to get that nice crispy
brown surface and smoky
flavor. We let the shrimp cool
off a bit and serve it over red
and golden watermelon salad
and tomatoes with sherry
balsamic vinaigrette, with
a little red onion and fresh
basil and chives. You get this
www.oceangarden.com
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 15
amazing
sweetness
and acid from
the tomatoes and the
watermelon, and fresh garden
flavor from the herbs. It’s a
great combination of textures,
flavors and temperatures,
and it’s really colorful and
beautiful. Kind of the essence
of summer on a plate.
We like to use U/10 shrimp
because that makes for a very
impressive presentation, but
the 16/20s are good for other
applications like scampi and
cold shrimp. Mostly with
shrimp like this we want to
grill it very simply, in the
©
Oc
shell, so you
don’t lose the essence of it.
How important is it to you
that Mexican shrimp is a
sustainable product?
© Ocean Garden Products
Mexican shrimp has a really
different flavor — it’s sweeter
and it has more personality
than the farm-raised shrimp I
grew up on. It has a lot more
character, and a texture that’s
almost crunchy. It’s like you’ve
never really tasted shrimp
before until you’ve tasted
Mexican wild shrimp.
I’m really excited to be using
shrimp that’s local for us.
The most important thing
is always the quality and
flavor, but we like to use local
products whenever we can. As
far as sustainability goes, the
fact that chefs are sourcing
more responsibly is something
that really matters a lot to me.
We’ve stopped getting bluefin
tuna because of what’s
happening [with global
overfishing of the species], and
we’re looking at a lot of other
sustainable products like Loch
Duart farmed salmon and some
of the snappers that are coming
out of the Gulf. Customers are
looking for things that they
can feel good about ordering,
and Mexican shrimp is
definitely one of those.
Mexican Shrimp
ea
nG
ar
de
nP
ro
du
ct
s
Chef Brian Malarkey
features Ocean
Garden shrimp in
CHAR GRILLED
MEXICAN SHRIMP
HEIRLOOM
WATERMELON AND
TOMATO SALAD.
15
12/4/08 9:39:00 AM
Chef Italo Peveri
at the Firenze Trattoria
features Ocean Garden
shrimp in PASTA
RUSTICA WITH
SHRIMP SCAMPI.
©O
ce a
nG
a rd
en
Pr
od
uc
and sorted,” says Bill Bayne,
founder of Dallas-based Fish
City Grill, a casual but qualityoriented seafood concept that
has grown to more than two
dozen units since its inception.
“You get consistency in size and
quality that offsets any price
differential, because the shrimp
are more equal in size and there’s
less breakage.”
Chalkboard fish specials
comprise some 40 percent of
menu sales, but Fish City Grill
does a stellar business in such
core menu items as Peel ‘n Eat
Shrimp, Cajun Steamer Platters,
Shrimp Baskets, Shrimp Dinners
(a choice of grilled, blackened or
fried shrimp) and various entrée
salads garnished
ed with shrimp.
© Ocean Garden Products
Fish City Grill
features Ocean
Garden shrimp in its
COCONUT
SHRIMP SALAD.
BBayne specs Mexican
M i shrimp
h i for
f
a number of applications, always Ocean Garden 21/25 finger packs for larger shrimp, and
41/50s for shrimp baskets and
boiled shrimp.
“Whether customers realize
it or not, they’re getting a better
value, too,” says Bayne. “That
consistency means that my dozen
peel-and-eat
peel
and eat shrimp are exactly
the same as yours, whereas
with other varieties of
shrimp mine might be bigger
or yours might be broken. That
matters to people.”
“I love how the shrimp
is packed,” says Chris Vogelli,
chef-owner of III Forks, a “Texas
French” restaurant in Dallas with
additional locations in Austin and
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., referring to Ocean Garden’s Compass
brand U/12 brown Mexican
shrimp, which is the chef’s favorite
shrimp. “It’s convenient, easy to
handle and always consistent in
size. You can be confident that
you’re getting what you pay for.”
Vogelli ought to know: He
weighs all his shrimp periodically, frozen and then thawed,
and checks individual shrimp for
breakage and size once
onccce they’re
they re
thawed. “With inferiorr shrimp,
you can lose up to 10 percent,
but with Ocean Garden
en there
are no mis-sizes, no weight
weighht problems, and no issues with
th broken shrimp.”
Like many chefs,
c
Vogelli buys
b
his
shrimp
shriimp
rraw
ts
16
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 16
Mexican Shrimp
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:39:04 AM
It’s all in the technique
Don Curtiss, chef owner of
Volterra in Seattle, an Italian
www.oceangarden.com
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 17
restaurant named after the city
where he and his wife Michelle
married, is a stickler for careful
preparation, as well as for flavor
and authenticity.
“I actually make the waiters enter a temperature on the
prawns when they put in the
order, just like a steak or duck,”
says Curtiss. “The proper way
to cook good shrimp is until they’re still translucent. The
waiters ask customers if that’s
okay with them.”
And, increasingly, it is among
Volterra’s many fans. “It’s a huge
part of our thing to educate
people,” notes Curtiss, who
uses U/15 and 16/20 Mexican
shrimp from Ocean Garden,
the wild ones whenever possible.
“We go to tremendous lengths
to source wonderful products
and prepare them correctly and
we want people to understand
why we’ve made the choices
we’ve made.”
And use them he does, in
a variety of different and distinctive preparations: sprinkled
with homemade fennel salt and
seared in extra virgin olive oil
for a Sicilian-style salad with olives, orange, fennel and arugula;
combined with other seafood
in a parchment package that
steams in its own juices and
garlic, tomato, basil, white wine
and butter, releasing a cloud of
fragrance when it’s opened at
the table; topping a special of
homemade black pepper pappardelle with local porcini and
pesto cream sauce.
For his many catering jobs,
Curtiss wraps shrimp around
whole olives and skewers and
grills them, finishing the presentation with a lively orange
vinaigrette.
“The olive protects and flavors the shrimp, allowing the
© Ocean Garden Products
in the shell, to give him more
flexibility and control. And as a
native of New Orleans who still
loves the city’s flavor palette, the
majority of the shrimp he sells
are boiled the Cajun way, in water with “a nice zip” of spices,
salt and lemon. “I have a cook
who has been boiling all my
shrimp the same way for four
years, that’s all he does.
“I also love to bread them to order and fry ‘em up,” adds Vogelli,
“or skewer and broil as a side with
steak, lobster or crab as a feature,
with three U/12s to an order.
When the shrimp are that good,
you don’t have to do much to them
to make them taste wonderful.”
Italo Peveri, the chef of
Firenze Trattoria in Encinitas,
Calif., insists on buying shrimp
shell-on because he uses the
shells for stocks, along with
fish bones. He always buys wild
U/15 Mexican shrimp from
Ocean Garden, because “they’re
the best: nice and firm and
sweet, and always available.”
Since he runs a classic Italian
kitchen, that shrimp-enhanced fish
stock is important to Peveri, who
menus Scampi al Fresca (shrimp
sautéed with garlic, shallots and
basil) in both a fresh tomato
sauce and a white wine sauce.
“It adds so much flavor to seafood dishes,” he says, including
many pasta specialties. He also
offers shrimp in specials such
as a la Parmigiana, layered with
mozzarella and marinara sauce
in a casserole and baked. As soon
as the cheese melts, the shrimp is
perfectly cooked.
“You don’t want to overcook
shrimp,” says Peveri. “That’s the
most important thing.”
George Zouboulakis,
chef at Madison’s
New York Grill &
Bar, features Ocean
Garden shrimp in
SHRIMP COCKTAIL.
outside to get nice and brown
while the inside stays moist,” he
explains. “That’s what you want
with a shrimp.”
Especially with a simple preparation, freshness and quality
are paramount.
“People around here really
know their seafood,” says Eileen Gideon, owner of Dutch’s
Daughter in Frederick, Md., a
traditional American restaurant
specializing in Maryland-style
seafood. “And we’re known for
our shrimp and crabmeat, all of
it fresh and cooked to order.”
The restaurant’s ever-popular fried shrimp is breaded
to order, and never refrozen.
The stuffed Jumbo Shrimp is
topped with fresh lump crab
Imperial and broiled moments before it’s brought to the
“...week in
and week out,
the product
is reliable...”
Mexican Shrimp
17
12/4/08 9:39:34 AM
ter how it’s prepared,” says the
chef. “Italian, Chinese, French,
American, you have to have
shrimp on the menu.”
Why is shrimp so universally
popular? “People all over the world
eat it,” says David Teyechea, a chef
and the
© O ce
a n Ga
rd e n
P ro d
uc ts
“I had to
switch from
Mexican
shrimp once
because we
ran out,
and I got
complaints.””
© Ocean Garden Products
table. Dutchman’s best-selling
shrimp dish is the marinated
Hot & Spicy Jumbo Shrimp.
Gideon uses only one brand
of shrimp: Ocean Garden. “It’s
always sweet and wonderful,” she
says. She prefers wild U/15s, but
with the restaurant’s volume of
up to 20,000 pounds of shrimp
a year, farmed Mexican shrimp
and 16/20s are also pressed into
service. “I had to switch from
Mexican shrimp once because
we ran out, and I got complaints.
That’s what happens when you’re
known for your shrimp.”
For Pascal Le Seac’h, chef de
cuisine of Manhattan’s Pastis restaurant, nothing beats a classic
French courtbouillon for cooking
shrimp. “For our shrimp cocktail, I cook the shrimp in water
flavored with white wine, aromatic vegetables and herbs, which
adds just enough flavor,” says Le
Seac’h, who uses Ocean Garden
U/15 Mexican shrimp. “And for
the shrimp kebab, I just marinate
the shrimp with a little salt, olive
oil and oregano. When you start
with a good product, you don’t
have to do that much to it.”
These straightforward shrimp
dishes are very popular
Chef Glen Clow
at Grand view
Steakhouse features
Ocean Garden shrimp
in DEL MAR SALAD
WITH PRICKLY
PEAR SAUCE.
classic
on Pastis’s clas
sic
i
bbistro-style
bi
stro-style menu, which also
runs to such standards as skate
with black butter, roasted poussin, bbraisedd beef
b f andd the
h ever
favorite steak frites. “New Yorkers really love shrimp, no mat-
18
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 18
Mexican Shrimp
food and
beverage
director of
the
h Grandd View Steakhouse
kh
at the Painted Mountain Golf
Resort in Mesa, Ariz., who
always uses Mexican shrimp for
its abundance and great quality. “It’s a staple that appeals
to non-fish eaters as well as to
people who love seafood, and
it can be prepared simply or more
elaborately.”
At Grand View, Ocean Garden
authentic Mexican shrimp shines
authe
in such
su standard preparations as
coconut shrimp, shrimp scampi
cocon
and sshrimp cocktail, as well as in
a more “gourmet” signature
like the Del Mar Salad, an
entrée-sized menu favorite
comprising mixed greens
with jicama, cilantro, tortilla
strips,
tomato and julienne
s
rred bell pepper with a distinctive prickly pear vinaigrette,
tinct
topped
by a skewer of grilled
to
opp
p
Mexican
shrimp. “It’s a great
M
Me
xi
salad; wonderful flavors, differsalad
ent ttextures, even two different
temperatures,” says Teyechea. “It’s
temp
really
ll got a lot going for it.”
Kind of like authentic shrimp
from Mexico.
www.oceangarden.com
12/4/08 9:39:50 AM
1-3 word Hed
Dek here and here
By A. W. Riter
A
sLorem ipsum dolor
sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit. In et
eros eget purus tincidunt eleifend. Proin est ipsum, sollicitudin at, tincidunt
at, elementum nec, nisl. Praesent
commodo, arcu ut euismod
vestibulum, purus wisi sagittis
magna, a elementum lorem lectus non turpis. Aenean in est.
Praesent imperdiet risus. Vestibulum a mi a lacus placerat
pretium. Praesent
mi velit, semper
vitae, dictum non,
semper vel, elit. Aliquam lacus. Nullam sagittis felis
vel augue. Donec
non velit. Vivamus
varius imperdiet
dolor. Quisque
ipsum. Mauris est
leo, tincidunt quis,
ullamcorper eu,
dictum ac, odio.
Sed eu quam. Vivamus fringilla
faucibus odio. Donec massa dui,
posuere eu, tristique nec, cursus
at, felis.
Maecenas eros mi, adipiscing
sed, sollicitudin in, bibendum
et, lorem. In tincidunt nulla elementum dolor. Cuquis, semper
non, auctor in, tortor. magna sit
amet eros congue mattipellentesque, diam vel dictum luctus,
magna lorem ultrices neque, sit
amet pellente
English
French
Spanish
& Chinese!
Shrimp
Sizing Guide
available in
four
languages!
© Ocean Garden Products
To order
the FULL SIZE
version
of this FREE
Shrimp Sizing Guide,
contact us at
1-800-4-SHRIMP
www.oceangarden.com
12_19ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 19
19
visit www.oceangarden.com
Mexicanor
Shrimp
12/4/08 9:39:59 AM
A retail star
When it comes to Mexican shrimp, tasting is believing
By Christine Blank
s a boy growing up
in Hawaii, Derek
Kurisu remembers
his family and
friends receiving Ocean Garden
premium shrimp as highly esteemed gifts every Christmas.
“It was, and is, the best gift
they could receive: the shrimp
in a blue box. It has a perception of value and luxury,”
tive VP of
says Kurisu, executive
res in
KTA Super Stores
Hilo, Hawaii. He has
purchased Ocean
Garden authentic
Mexican shrimp
for about 20 years.
“Ocean Gardenn
oha
really has the ‘aloha
spirit.’ We are able to
ne family,”
work together as one
says Kurisu.
Thanks to Ocean Garden’s
consistent supply of both
wild and farmed Mexican
shrimp, the Mexican product
is popular not only in Hawaii, but nationwide.
“Every year, the business
gets better. And every year,
we get bigger [sales] on Mexican wild shrimp. We have to
plan better and order more,”
© Ocean Garden Products
A
20
20_23ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 20
Mexican Shrimp
says Chris Smith, meat and
seafood sales director for
Harmon’s Grocery, a 13-store
upscale chain based in West
Valley City, Utah.
Despite hard economic
times, retailers report that
Ocean Garden shrimp continues to sell well. Buyers say their customers are
choosing Ocean Garden
© Ocean Garden Products
shrimp because they trust the
quality and sustainability of
the product, they view it as a
healthful protein choice and
they are cooking more dishes
at home to save money.
“Our shrimp sales have
not declined. As long as I
have Ocean Garden shrimp
in our stores, it will sell, regardless of economic cutbacks. It seems easier to cut
other costs to accommodate
favorite dishes,” says Wade
Igarashi, seafood buyer for
the Don Quijote retail chain
in Honolulu.
During a recent Ocean
Garden shrimp promotion,
Don Quijote’s sales rose 14
percent, says Igarashi. “That
tells me shoppers are buying more to save money and
also because they are cooking
at home.”
home
H
Harmon’s Grocery
is increasing sales
oof authentic wild
M
Mexican shrimp
bby educating custo
tomers with tastings
ings, brochures and
other me
methods.
“This has
ha been a tiger
shrimp, bottom-of-the-barrel
market in the past. But Ocean
Garden shrimp is head and
shoulders above that, so it’s
a matter of educating our
customers about what a great
product we have,” says Smith.
As part of Harmon’s regular
in-store demo events for “foodies,” Harmon’s samples Mexican shrimp a few times a year.
Ocean Garden supports the
www.mexicanshrimp.org
12/4/08 9:49:15 AM
demos with not only product,
but also brochures and a highend cookbook that Harmon’s
and other grocers gave to consumers for a limited time.
“We have our staff to do
nothing but sample products
that are unique and delicious.
Ocean Garden shrimp is good,
and people are willing to pay
for the good stuff,” says Smith.
Because Ocean Garden
white Mexican shrimp is offered in many different sizes
and packages, many different
ethnic groups can buy the size
of shrimp they are used to
for their meals. For example,
its farmed Mexican shrimp is
available in 16/20s, 21/25s,
26/30s and 31/35s and are
sold in 1-, 2- and 5-pound
retail bags.
“The great value-added feature of Ocean Garden shrimp
is its different packaging
sizes, so it reaches all household sizes and pocketbooks,”
says Igarashi. “Shrimp will always be a local favorite, along
with being the most popular
seafood nationwide. All types
of people enjoy shrimp and
it can be cooked in endless
ways to suit different tastes of
any nationality.”
Kurisu also lauds the versatility of retail shrimp packages. “Hawaii is a melting
pot with people from China,
Japan, Philippines and other
countries. And so many different dishes use shrimp,”
he adds.
www.oceangarden.com
20_23ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 21
Well-placed promotions
Because of shrimp’s continued popularity, retailers nationwide are promoting Ocean
Garden shrimp throughout the
year rather than just as a seasonal specialty.
“Sh r i mp h a s become
a year-round event now,”
says Kurisu. Ocean Garden
shrimp is featured in KTA
Super Stores’ weekly circular, which often includes a
coupon for $1 off a 5-pound
box. “We take a low margin
on it, but promoting Ocean
Garden shrimp is a great way
to get people in the store.”
In addition to KTA Super
Stores’ in-store promotions,
Kurisu features Ocean Garden
shrimp on a local television
show he hosts.
On a local cable-TV segment
“Living in Paradise,” which
airs every evening, Kurisu presents cooking tips and recipe
ideas. He often talks about
Ocean Garden shrimp and the
best ways to prepare shrimp,
tips on choosing sizes, and
holiday recipe ideas.
Rainbow Sales & Marketing, Ocean Garden’s Hawaii
broker, develops successful promotions with Hawaii’s supermarkets and provides T-shirts,
brochures and other giveaways. Some of the most successful promotions are those
that feature three different
sizes of Ocean Garden shrimp,
to give shoppers choices, says
Bill Prideaux, president of
Rainbow Sales & Marketing.
Don Quijote promotes
Ocean Garden shrimp yearround, and does especially
well with joint promotions
of shrimp and beer, and
shrimp and McCormick’s
seafood seasonings.
“Promotions with Budweiser and wine companies
consist of pairing the two with
side-by-side samplings. And,
everyone wants to participate
with Ocean Garden shrimp
demos, including McCormick spices sold in the seafood department, to explore
new ways of cooking shrimp,”
says Igarashi.
For the 2008 Labor Day
weekend, Don Quijote featured Ocean Garden’s 1-pound
bags of 21/25’s and Budweiser
beer. The promotion included
Kevin Marquet, chef
at The 9th Door,
features Ocean Garden
shrimp in CEVICHE
GAZPACHO.
Oc
ea
nG
ar
d
P
en
ro
du
ct
s
©
Mexican Shrimp
21
12/4/08 9:49:23 AM
“Every year,
we get bigger
[sales] on
Mexican
caption here
and here
wild
shrimp.”
Bravo Bistro
features
Ocean Garden
shrimp in
SHRIMP SCAMPI.
© O ce
a n Ga
rd e n
P ro du
demos of shrimp scampi with
large in-store Budweiser signs
and Ocean Garden’s colorful
banners drawing attention to
the demo area.
“Cooking Ocean Garden
shrimp in a scampi sauce provided the aroma that drew our
customers to the area, knowing they could taste their favorite seafood along with a
sip of popular beer. Tasting
is believing, and the results
were substantial compared to
a regular ad with no demos,”
says Igarashi.
The Ocean Garden/Budweiser promotion was the most
successful sales event to date.
Don Quijote sold 621 bags
that week, compared to an average of 213 when the shrimp
is featured only in its circular.
Importantly, the Labor Day
promotion has benefited the
supermarket’s sales of Ocean
Garden shrimp since the event.
“It was a total success and
generated a great following
from our cus
customers to purchase Ocean Garden shrimp
g
at regular
cts
22
20_23ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 22
Mexican Shrimp
retail,” says Igarashi.
A successful KTA Super
Stores’ holiday promotion features free shrimp with the
purchase of a certain dollar
amount of groceries (which
varies from season to season).
Because “most people in Hawaii want shrimp on the their
table during the holidays,” the
Ocean Garden shrimp is a popular promotion, says Kurisu.
Quality, sustainability
Ocean Garden’s high quality product and sustainability
profile creates loyal customers. The company’s standards,
along with the clean, white
appearance of the product has
become the standard to compare all other shrimp against,
according to buyers.
Shoppers can tell the difference between a farmed Asian
shrimp with added preservatives
and all-natural, quality Ocean
Garden Mexican wild and
farmed shrimp, says Smith.
“Once they have had [auth
thentic Mexican shrimp] a coupple times,, theyy can tast
taste what
shrimp is really like, the way
it is meant to be,”
says Smith.
“A majority of the consumers
in Hawaii know that Mexican shrimp is superior to Asian
shrimp. Anybody can tell you
the difference,” says Prideaux of
Rainbow Sales & Marketing.
Japanese shoppers in Hawaii have always preferred
Ocean Garden shrimp over
any other, adds Prideaux.
Ocean Garden brochures
and other complimentary materials provided to retailers
explain the supplier’s quality
and sustainability standards,
which help shoppers place
their trust in Ocean Garden
shrimp, explains Igarashi.
In addition, supermarket
buyers want to ensure they
are purchasing natural and
sustainable products.
“It’s good to know there is
a sense of responsibility to
offer a natural product that is
safe, which is my uppermost
concern, followed by the fact
that it is not recklessly done,
which would exhaust the
supply of a quality product,”
says Igarashi.
“Nature and the environment is so
s important
importan here
[in Hawai
ii], and it is iimporHawaii],
tant for us to keep it clean
and beautiful.
beauutiful. Ocean G
Garden
shrimp is
i nice and whi
white, and
very nat
tural. It has a ver
natural.
very good
Kuris
imagee here,” says Kurisu.
Itt is clear that no matter
the location, retail sh
th
the
shoppers
will continue to choose
will
pprr emium, top-q
premium,
top-quality
Ocean Garden wild
wi and
Ocean
farmed shrimp.
far
farmed
www.mexicanshrimp.org
12/4/08 9:49:37 AM
Ocean Trust
Providing Solutions for Sustainability…
t $PSQPSBUF4VTUBJOBCJMJUZ1SPHSBNT
t 'JTIFSZ4UBUVT3FWJFXT
t "USVFQBSUOFSTIJQJOGJTIFSJFT
t 4FBGPPE4VTUBJOBCJMJUZ1SPGJMFT
t &OWJSPONFOUBM*TTVFT"TTFTTNFOUT XJMEMJGFBOEUIFFOWJSPONFOU
…& Credibility
in Conservation
Ocean Trust Receives 7th
Conservation Award for
Restoration and Enhancement
Texas Governor Rick Perry
Congratulates Thor Lassen
Check out our Sustainable Oceans Program @ www.oceantrust.org
and join Ocean Trust as your Sustainable Seafood Partner
…Sustaining the
Oceans and Communities
Dependant on the Sea
Ocean Trust
11921 Freedom Drive, Suite 550
Reston, VA 20190
Tel (703) 450-9852
Fax (703) 450-9853
Email [email protected]
*A 501 (c)(3) nonprofit foundation
Member contributions tax deductible
20_23ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 23
12/4/08 9:50:14 AM
Ocean Garden Mexican Shrimp,
a world of culinary possibilities!
Sticky Shrimp
Chef Rob Hamburg
Hamburg, Blackstone Steakhouse
Melville, NY
Linguine with Grilled Shrimp
Chef Jeff Azersky
Azersky, Bluefin
Bluefin /
Kingfisher Restaurants, Tucson, AZ
Shrimp Risotto
Chef Marino Tavares,
Tavares Ferreira Café
Montreal, Québec
Almond Coated Zataar Shrimp
Tequila Lime Shrimp
Chef Bernard Guillas,
Guillas The Marine Room
La Jolla, CA
Chef Jonathan Landeen
Landeen, Jonathan’s Cork
Tucson, AZ
Hawaiian Coconut Shrimp
Mai K
Kai
ai
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Fennel Olive Shrimp Skewers
Chef/Owner Don Curtiss
Curtiss, Volterra
Seattle, WA
Gambas al Ajillo
Chef Kevin Marquet
Marquet, The 9th Door
Denver, CO
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Chef Brian Olenjack
Olenjack, Olenjack’s Grille
Arlington, TX
Visit www.oceangarden.com for recipes from top chefs and more information
about Ocean Garden’s traceabilty program and sustainability efforts. 1-800-4-SHRIMP
01_11ShrimpBiz_2008.indd 24
12/4/08 9:32:00 AM