Bart van Olphen, celebrity chef and founder of the European sustainable seafood brand Fish Tales, is debuting his new Sea Tales brand in the United States market this month.
Initially launching its sustainable canned seafood line into Stop & Shop and Whole Foods Market stores, the recently-formed Sea Tales, based in New York City, is a multi-pronged fresh, frozen, and canned seafood brand.
“After working as a chef for years in Paris, I started my first fishmongery in Amsterdam in 2001. When I learned over 80 percent of our oceans were fished to the limit or overfished, a few years later I started to travel the world in search of fisheries who fished in a responsible way,” van Olphen told SeafoodSource.
After fishing himself and living with fisherman, van Olphen created cookbooks such as The Tinned Fish Cookbook, TV programs, and a YouTube channel to “increase the awareness and importance of seafood sustainability with the public.”
“It’s so important to make steps towards better/more sustainable seafood consumption – especially in the canned category,” van Olphen said.
Then, five years ago, van Olphen and Harm Jan van Dijk formed the Fish Tales sustainable seafood brand in Europe.
“In Europe, you’ll find our brand under the name of Fish Tales, but, we decided to launch under Sea Tales for the U.S. market: same brand, same fisheries, similar products,” van Olphen said.
Sea Tales’ new Marine Stewardship Souncil-certified line of canned seafood includes skipjack tuna, pole-and-line-caught in the Maldives; albacore tuna, pole-and-line-caught off the coast of Spain; anchovy fillets, caught by local fisherman off the Argentine coast; and sardines caught off the coast of Cornwall, England.
“We are the only brand with a range of species all MSC-certified. In other words, when you choose Sea Tales you make a 100 percent responsible choice,” van Olphen said.
The goal, van Olphen said, is to highlight the importance of sustainability to a wider audience, while appealing to existing sustainability-minded shoppers.
-“It’s important to realize canned tuna is the most sold seafood product in the U.S., but by far, most of the volume sold is non-sustainable,” he said. “Our aim is to reach those consumers who shop with the better future for our oceans and next generations in mind.”
Because consumers are cooking from pantry staples more than ever during COVID-19, “buying this sustainable canned seafood is an easy way to make good choices for your family as well as the planet,” van Olphen said.
But van Olphen doesn’t want to make an impact on only the canned seafood market in America.
Later this year, Sea Tales will launch smoked Alaskan wild salmon in retailers’ refrigerated sections, and will launch an assortment of fresh products in early 2021.
“Sea Tales is not just a canned seafood brand, but an overall seafood brand covering all categories – canned, frozen, and fresh,” van Olphen said.
Sea Tales’ mission includes working with “small-scale, self-supporting fishing communities who live and work in harmony with the oceans, providing them a stable income and contributing to the local economies,” the company said in a press release.
To do that, the company works with 16 fisheries with sustainability certifications around the globe, van Olphen said. The supplier also works to educate consumers on why it’s important to choose sustainable seafood.
“Through our packaging, you will be directed to all the ‘nice’ and ‘need’ to knows behind the specific fishery,” van Olphen said. “We also inspire our consumers with all kind of recipes, tips, and tricks to prepare this seafood in the most delicious ways.”
Photo courtesy of Sea Tales
