How to avoid becoming a “Seafood Has Been”
By Ruth Levy

I have realized after spending seven weeks oversees in the past three months that the US is moving to a ’seafood has been’ status.  In fact, if the data from the GAA conference in Malaysia and the Groundfish Forum in Auckland is to be believed, the USA by 2030 will comprise just 10% of the world’s middle class.  The East is rising and the economic ‘Center of Gravity’ continues to shift east.

With the meteoric rise of middle class in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) more money will be spent on luxury goods and seafood is a luxury food.  The numbers are mind boggling….3 billion middle class in the world by 2030; only twenty years away!  The new members to the middle class are used to spending a high proportion of their income on food.  This group will see their overall food spending percentage to income decrease but this spending will include more purchases of luxury food items.  More people will have the ability to choose what they want to eat for pleasure, not for necessity.  Food items that were out of reach will now be affordable and will be consumed locally versus being exported.  Anyone who imports seafood into the US sees this happening now.

While I was in China, export prices were rising due to a variety of factors, not the least of which was the growing domestic market.  The same was true in India, a country where the majority of people (1.2+ billion) are vegetarians. While there, we were told 4% of that population eats seafood which means 48 million people are seafood consumers.  Consequently, the domestic Indian fresh head on shrimp market is growing at an exponential rate and the Indian shrimp exporters have a new element to factor into their export pricing equation.

So where does this leave the US consumer?  We have expectations regarding our food cost and portion size that looking ahead, aren’t sustainable in this new BRIC era.  The past is becoming unrealistic when facing the future. This is true in many different areas not just seafood.  Americans are going to have to make some adjustments.  Especially with respect to seafood, there is going to be too much competition to have an expectation of cheap, large portion sizes.  Will US Seafood consumption continue to decline as the emerging nations’ consumption increases?

Seafood is a vital part of the American diet.  The health benefits far surpass the other protein categories.  While we might be a ‘has been’ when viewed through the lens of our existing food style, we still are in the fore front with respect to food innovation and creativity.   The US still sets world trends and most of the world still aspires to have what we have.  Americans need to be creative with how we use seafood…consider skin on fillets, smaller portion sizes, creative cuts and food pairings as options.  Value is no longer just about how many ounces for what cost…value is now about getting a healthy, diverse protein to the end user at a level that is affordable and satisfactory.  What is an acceptable quantity on the lunch/dinner plate is going to have to be adjusted downwards.   We are going to have to pay more for availability. 

This new value proposition is hitting Americans in all areas of our lifestyle and our supremacy at the top of the world heap is changing.  If we don’t adjust we literally won’t have, others will be there first.  We need to wake up and think ahead, not wait for things to go back to the way they were, those days are gone.  Seafood processors/importers need to tap into our ‘can do’ ability and give the market options so that seafood remains a dynamic protein category for the US consumer.

General State of Seafood

Frozen at Sea, FAS, is the fastest way to stop seafood from deteriorating.  Once the seafood is caught and on board the factory vessel, it gets processed and immediately frozen.  This can occur within minutes or hours of the fish or shellfish being caught.  Often times the product has never had a chance to go through rigor mortis.   When this product is thawed under refrigeration, it has all the characteristics of just caught seafood and is almost ‘fresher than fresh’.

There are many seafood species or products that are Frozen at Sea.  Some of the finest eating seafood is processed this way and its ‘freshness’ is truly captured.  Items such as South African Lobster Tails, Patagonian Toothfish (Chilean Seabass), Cape Capensis Fillets, & Sashimi Swordfish Loins are just a few of the many seafood items that have superb quality because they are FAS. These products have been handled quickly and properly from ocean to freezer and their ‘freshness’ exceeds the non-frozen, chilled versions of the same product.

When evaluating the best option for your seafood needs, remember that in many instances, FAS seafood offers the finest quality available.  Just because a product has never been frozen, doesn’t mean it is the best or ‘freshest’ product in the marketplace.

General State of Seafood

Grilling Cephalopods
By Ruth Levy

Grilling and summer are two words that are very intertwined in the Northeast.   Why cook inside when the sun is shining and the temperatures are soaring?  While everyone is familiar with the traditional grill foods such as hamburgers, hotdogs & swordfish, most people don’t even think about the wonders of grilled cephalopods:  Squid & Cuttlefish.

One of the best meals of my life was on the Amalfi Coast in Italy where my husband and I had a lunch of grilled cuttlefish.  Simply prepared, it was so tasty and flavorful that we have often duplicated the preparation at home sans the ambiance of the location.  On the beach in Thailand I enjoyed wonderful grilled whole squid that makes my mouth water even now….and all these preparations are so easy to do on your own grill!

Cleaned cuttlefish or squid only need just a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive oil and a quick turn on a hot grill to be cooked perfectly ‘Amalfi’ style.  If the tubes are left intact, it is best to score the squid or cuttlefish tube with a knife in diagonal lines prior to cooking.  Otherwise, open up the tubes and cook flat.  You know it is cooked when the flesh turns opaque in color.  Add a dash of salt and pepper and eat while hot!  Another option is to marinate the tube in soy sauce and then cook on a hot grill.  Dip in a spicy hot dipping sauce when done and you have ‘Thai’ style.

Squid & Cuttlefish represent some of the best value in the seafood category.  Remember their cooking method is not only fried or stewed.  With the sun shining, grilled is an awesome option that is very simple to do!

Cephalopods

Octopus - An Emerging Seafood Item
by Ruth Levy

Octopus (singular), Octopuses (plural), Octopi (plural) are all part of the Mollusk family and the sub category known as Cephalopods.  These interesting creatures are found all over the world and are just now starting to join more mainstream menus as a delicious seafood item.  Very well known to Mediterranean and Asian cuisines, octopus can be prepared in a number of ways.

Edible octopi come from a number of different origins around the world.  Spanish/Portuguese and/or North African octopus is considered by many to be the best octopus to eat.  The flesh cooks up very white, is flavorful and the cooked meat recovery is very high. These are sized by the kilo and have been known to go up to 4kg and higher.  It is also the most expensive.  Other African countries produce octopus although they are not considered as premium as the North African octopus.

Larger octopuses produced in temperate/tropical areas are most common from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.  Philippine octopus has the lowest cooked meat recovery and Indonesia the highest and the animal can be over 8#.  Mexico and Chile also produce edible octopuses although not typically as large as the Asian.  The Chilean octopus is darker in flesh color and the average size is typically 1-2 and 2-4# each.

‘Baby’ octopus is a misnomer.   Baby octopi are not juvenile octopuses but rather mature animals, small in size.  They are sized by count/kg and are found in temperate/tropical waters off of India and Asia (Thailand, Vietnam & China).

Octopus is a flavorful seafood item with an unusual presentation due to the shape of the animal.  Unless cooked and served intact (like the ‘baby’ octopus), octopuses are typically cooked boiled or stewed and cut up when used as a recipe ingredient:  paella, seafood salad etc.   However, ‘barbecued’ octopus in Australia, marinated octopus ceviche in Mexico and Italian octopus marinara are common octopus only dishes.

Octopus adds value and variation to the menu and is an emerging seafood item.  It appears the octopus trend is following what happened years ago to its cephalopod cousin, calamari, and one is starting to see more octopus offered on food service menus across the country.

Cephalopods

International Boston Seafood Show Time

by Ruth Levy

The International Seafood Show starts next week and for those of us who work in Boston this is one of the most hectic weeks of the year.  Vendors, customers, booth & day to day business all compete for our time. You wish you had extra hours in the day to fit everything in and you hope to find the time to walk the show in order to satisfy your curiosity regarding what might be new and innovative.  There is always something new to see whether it be fish, packaging or marketing ideas.

This is not a stagnant industry.  Each year there are new things to see and learn and new connections to make.  Our industry is very relationship based and as you walk the aisles of the show you see friends & foes from many years.  The first show was held at the Park Plaza Castle and was smaller than the foyer of the current convention center.  I was just in the beginning of my seafood career then and met people that I still see and do business with today.  My learning curve might have changed over the years, but there are always new insights gleaned from meeting the people you do business with face to face.

It is not just the product that makes this business interesting, but also it is the people you do business with that make this industry an adventure.  I look forward to the yearly opportunity to reconnect and I wish all that are attending a good show and a grand adventure!

General State of Seafood

Cephalopods & Lent

By Ruth Levy

Lent is just around the corner and a great category to feature is Cephalopods:  Squid, Octopus and Cuttlefish.  These seafood items are consumed across many different cultures and certainly represent an opportunity for both the buyer and the seller.  In their frozen cleaned form, squid, octopus and cuttlefish are truly one of the best values in the seafood category as there is no waste, everything can be cooked.

How and where are these items used?  Squid or calamari is used in just about every type of restaurant whether it is fried, added to a seafood stew or poached and used in salad.  Cuttlefish is typically found more in Asian and Mediterranean cuisines stewed, grilled or fried.  Octopus has come into its own and can be found on your local Mexican, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese & Australian Restaurant menu just to name a few.  The dishes can range from fried, sautéed, salad, barbecued to stewed.  The applications are quite limitless for this seafood category of cephalopods.

The value for cephalopods lies not only in the versatile applications but also in the low cost of the product.  Cleaned squid, octopus and cuttlefish are all 100% usable and cost a reasonable amount compared to other proteins.  This is one category where the three mantras of value, versatility and variety all apply.

So, when thinking about what to eat or to feature during Lent, don’t forget Cephalopods:  Squid, Octopus and Cuttlefish.  There are close to seven weeks to focus on seafood and cephalopods should be on the top of the list.

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Who gets the fish?

by Ruth Levy

The New Year approaches and especially with the change of a decade it is a time for reflection, resolutions and of course predictions.  We have all experienced the changes that have occurred this past decade so I prefer to look forward to what might be ahead.  My crystal ball is subject to operational error, so I give myself the disclaimer of ‘Subject to Change’.

‘Subject to Change’ has certainly been the mantra of seafood prices and availability.  Looking ahead, I see this continuing and intensifying.  Seafood prices hit some historic lows this past year and have been correcting themselves since.  With a relatively weak dollar (although the current strengthening is very welcome!) and a hungry world population, there is major competition for the last wild hunted food group.  Farm raised seafood does help to ease some of this demand.  However, when a major farmed seafood category like Atlantic Salmon is at historic production lows for 2010, or Basa production is predicted to be lower, the question becomes:  Who is going to get the fish?  Is it just those that can pay? How does ’sustainability’, ‘green movement’ or ‘carbon footprint’ impact this?

We all have heard how India and China are the upcoming world powers.  Will they get the fish and if so, at whose expense?  Currently both countries are global sources of seafood. When will they start to consume most of what they produce?   Already, certain species remain for local consumption and are not entering the global marketplace.

For me, one of the big issues in the year or years ahead is ‘Who gets the fish’.  Overall seafood supply is not going to increase that dramatically.  No longer is it just ‘Who can afford the fish’ as there are more and more populations that are able to pay.  Is the trend to ‘local consumption’ a preview of what is ahead for seafood?  Our business is a global business.  But as with everything, a correction is due here as well.  My crystal ball isn’t clear enough to know when this ‘global correction’ will happen.  The dynamics for ‘getting the fish’ are not just going to be based solely upon price.  Other factors will enter in as we start to define in the next decade ‘Sustainability’, ‘Buy Local’, ‘Carbon Footprint’ etc.  So be ready, ‘Subject to Change’ remains a basic fundamental to sourcing and supplying seafood.

I wish everyone a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

General State of Seafood

Cephalopods are in big demand during the Christmas season.  The three major types that are purchased and consumed are:  Pulpo/Octopus, Sepia/Cuttlefish & Calamari/Squid.

Many people do not understand the difference between these three and tend to lump them all together.  However each type is a distinct animal.  Cooking methods can be quite similar but there are distinctive characteristics to each.

Pulpo or Octopus: 

Sold as large cleaned (each individual octopus weighs one to several pounds) or baby cleaned (several octopi per one pound).  These are typically boiled for salad or stewed in tomato sauce and transcend several cuisines:  South American, Mediterranean and Asian etc.  The cooked meat is chewy but flavorful. The tentacles are quite long and are cut into pieces while the head meat is sliced.

Sepia or Cuttlefish: 

This cephalopod is not as well known in the USA as its cousins the squid or octopus.  However, in Europe and Asia, this is the prized cephalopod for flavor and consistency.  The animal is a cross between both the squid and octopus in appearance.  The thick meat cooks up snow white and is tender with a subtle flavor.  It is delicious when grilled or stewed but is just as tasty fried or boiled. The tentacles are shorter and the body (or tube) is where the thick slices come from.  Once again the forms sold in the marketplace are either:   large cleaned, large uncleaned or baby cleaned.

Calamari or Squid:    

Most everyone knows this cephalopod.  The tube and tentacles are fried or the tube is stuffed.  Product is sized by tube length and there are many tubes or tubes & tentacles per pound. 

Happy Holidays!  May cephalopods be included on your holiday menu!

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Eat Seafood Twice a Week!

I just returned from attending the Groundfish Forum held in Iceland.  The leaders of the world’s groundfish industry were all present discussing the status of groundfishstocks and markets.  As this is an invitation only event I always feel privileged to be included in such esteemed company.  Two presentations stand out in my mind given by speakers reporting on the retail and foodservice sectors of the US.  Independently, both presenters had come to a similar conclusion:  Seafood has an unprecedented, historic opportunity ahead!

As a protein, seafood is always fighting the price issues compared to beef, pork and chicken.  Seafood historically has been higher priced than these alternatives.  This price difference has been a detriment to expanding seafood consumption in the US.  However the trends ahead might just level this playing field. 

Due to a variety of reasons, there are less cows and pigs being raised than in the past.  If the economic data is to be believed prices on these proteins should rise as supply decreases.  The price difference between seafood and warm blooded protein should be much less than in the past.  Also, warm blooded protein does not offer the health benefits that seafood does.  We have an aging, fatter population in the US that truly needs fish in their diet.  The health benefits are well documented. We, the seafood industry, need to get the message out there!  Eat seafood twice a week!

In the macro picture of protein this could be unprecedented times. There will be the less of a price difference for seafood when compared to warm blooded protein alternatives. We, the seafood industry need to take advantage of this minimized pricing differential.  But in order to take full advantage, we need to present seafood as one industry to the marketplace, not fragmented into specie groups.

Having battle scars from earlier efforts to form a cohesive seafood marketing plan, (does anyone remember “Generic Marketing”?), it really is time to put our specie differences aside and approach the marketplace with the healthy, cold blooded protein known as Seafood.  Whether it is squid, tilapia, shrimp, octopus or bluefish….seafood consumption in the US has a chance to grow.  The pricing barrier vs. other proteins will be at its lowest level and the need for a healthy, fun protein alternative is at its highest level. Let’s take advantage of this historic opportunity, join forces, and with one voice send a clear message to the consumer:  Eat seafood twice a week!

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Imported Loligo Squid

There are several significant Loligo squid species imported into the US.  The two most significant are: Loligo chinensis (from China) and Loligo vulgaris (from India).  The one that offers the most value to the US consumer and is packed similar to US domestic squid is the Loligo chinensis squid from China.

Loligo chinensis is caught in the South China Sea and is typically brought to shore fresh.  There are Taiwan boats that freeze at sea, but the majority of the squid caught in the South China Sea is processed from fresh or first land frozen and then processed later.  Loligo chinensis is treated with a tenderizing agent during the cleaning process.  Very few US Squid importers list the tenderizing agent as an ingredient on their cleaned squid package.  BOSN calamari is one Chinese squid brand that has all the proper ingredients listed and is true net weight.

Loligo Chinensisafter processing is white, tender and neutral in flavor.  The US market prefers a tender squid with neutral flavor and this product meets those criteria. It is also packed in the recognizable format of tray and bag and is very competitively priced.   The squid is fully cleaned and tentacles are separated from tubes. The squid is sized by its tube length which mirrors the domestic loligo.

Loligo vulgarisis a loligo squid that comes to the US market primarily from India.  It is whole cleaned which means the tentacles are still connected to the tubes, but the tubes have been skinned and eviscerated.  The pack is typically in a block, not in a tray and bag, like the US or Chinese cleaned squid.  It is block frozen and wrapped in plastic.  Sizing is also typically tube count per kilo, not length of squid tube.

Loligo vulgaris is a very sought after specie around the world.  It is meaty, moderately tender; light colored and has a more pronounced flavor than the Loligo chinensis.  It is also chemically tenderized and the tenderizing ingredients are not usually declared on the package.

Regarding price, Chinese and Indian squid are similarly priced in the market.  The familiarity of the Chinese package versus the more obscure ct/ kg of the Indian squid and unruly block/bag means the Indian calamari is less likely to be found in retail.  Both Indian and Chinese squid packers are known to pack less than net weight, so once again it is critical to understand what one is purchasing.

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