On 12 March, 2023, Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.A.-based Thunder’s Catch Alaska seafood company won the Seafood Excellence Award for Best New Retail Product for its Wild Salmon Chowder at Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Still active salmon fishers in the U.S. state of Alaska, Thunder’s Catch Co-Founders Kara Berlin and Taran White created their company a decado ago, as they began distributing Alaska-sourced seafood products at farmers markets across Idaho. Slowly, they expanded their product selection to provisions such as smoked salmon, salmon spread, burgers, and jerky.
Their award-winning product is shelf-stable seafood, meant to be eaten on the go, and is “made with large chunks of smoked wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, potatoes, corn, celery, and carrots."
“It's something that you can throw in your backpack, can use camping or backpacking, throw in your drawer at work for the office, you can take anywhere. It's convenient. It has quality ingredients you would find in your kitchen at home,” Berlin told SeafoodSource. "And I mean, we're biased, but we think it tastes good."
Thunder’s Catch was created as a passion project, she said, based on their desire to have something they could take on trips into backcountry that didn't need to be refrigerated.
"That's always been a challenge with our provisions, that they must be refrigerated or frozen,” Berlin said. "So during the pandemic, we had some time to work on a little passion project and put some energy and time into making something."
Berlin also said the company would not have been able to win the award without the help of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood, the competition organized by the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF). Thunder's Catch won multiple awards at the competition, which garnered it an entry into the Seafood Excellence Awards.
"We would not have even been able to apply, but AFDF advocated enough for us to say 'Hey, you guys should go, we have some funds, we're going to cover the application fee,'" Berlin said.
Photo courtesy of Thunder’s Catch
