United States foodservice distributor US Foods is featuring 4-star Best Aquaculture Practices-certified skinless barramundi fillets as part of its new Spring Scoop 2019 offerings.
The ocean-farmed barramundi, under the Harbor Banks label, a US Foods exclusive brand, is supplied by Greenfield, Massachusetts,U.S.A.-based Australis Aquaculture. It is flash-frozen once, within hours of harvest.
Barramundi has gown nearly 50 percent in the number of placements on U.S. menus in the past four years, according to Datassential.
The Harbor Banks barramundi fillets are already used by some restaurants, including Hook & Barrel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which serves only sustainably-certified seafood. The restaurant utilizes the barramundi in fish tacos, sautéed and then topped on a quinoa salad, and in fish stew.
The 24 items in the Spring Scoop line follow US Foods’ “Serve Good” guidelines, which include rigorous criteria for responsible sourcing and waste reduction.
Harbor Banks tilapia recently graduated from US Foods’ Progress Check program to Serve Good, which features seafood products that are certified sustainable to leading industry recognized standards, with chain of custody where applicable.
Farmed species that are part of the Serve Good program carry a Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) 4-star certification, or have the highest level of BAP available for the species or equivalent Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) benchmarked certifications, where US Foods has the associated chain of custody certification.
Wild-caught species that are part of Serve Good carry a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and MSC Chain of Custody certification, or equivalent Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) benchmarked certifications, where US Foods also has the associated chain of custody certification.
“Achieving the highest levels of sustainability certification requires years of investment from fisheries, farms and processors so we work with suppliers through our Progress Check program to guide them on a path toward meeting our certifier-verified Serve Good sustainability standards,” Sara Matheu, director of media relations for US Foods, told SeafoodSource.
Matheu had a suggestion for restaurants and foodservice operators that sell Serve Good products.
“Tell your diners the responsibility story, but be sure they taste it, too: barramundi has a clean, mild, buttery flavor that you’ll love to work with and they’ll love to eat,” she said.
