Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A.-based foodservice company Compass Group North America recently launched a new initiative called “Better Catch” to promote sustainably and responsibly caught seafood on restaurant menus.
The campaign is a collaboration with award-winning Chef Barton Seaver, who has worked on several seafood initiatives in the past, including a program that helps train restaurant industry professionals in how to cook seafood, a seafood cookbook co-authored by fellow Chef Andrew Zimmern, and more.
The Better Catch campaign plans to merge Seaver’s experience in the sector with Compass Group’s millions of customers across a wide range of industries.
Compass chefs and culinary professionals nationwide will participate in seafood-focused training, making seafood-centric recipes with responsibly sourced species, including salmon from the Faroe Islands, whiteleg shrimp, and haddock. New species will be introduced quarterly to revamp innovation throughout the campaign.
The campaign launched 1 October at the start of National Seafood Month in the U.S.
"Sustainable seafood has been a core part of Compass Group's sourcing and culinary strategy for more than two decades," Compass Group North America Chief Culinary Officer Chris Ivens-Brown said. "Our partnership with Barton Seaver represents the next chapter in that journey, helping us deepen culinary expertise, introduce underutilized sustainable species, and create menu experiences that are both delicious and mindful of the long-term health of our oceans."
"The Better Catch demonstrates how delicious seafood can create positive impact across our seafood system," Seaver added. "Seafood is a powerful lever for addressing climate change, supporting women's economic empowerment, improving brain health, and building more resilient food systems. This program is an invitation to fall in love with seafood."
Compass Group North America said this campaign builds on the 20 years of promotional seafood sustainability work the company has participated in.
“What a way to kick off National Seafood Month,” Seaver said on LinkedIn. “I couldn't be more excited to join the Compass ecosystem to help evangelize and expand upon what's really going right in the seafood world. Compass Group has for decades led the way in exploring how sustainable seafood can show up at scale in the meals of millions of Americans, from K-12 to college and university dining programs, senior care, healthcare, corporate, sports and leisure, and beyond. This program, sparked by the vision of Chef Ivens-Brown, will create a culture of confidence and competence, for culinarians and customers, to put more sustainable seafood on more plates more often.”
