El Segundo, California, U.S.A.-based seafood firm Shinkei Systems has launched its Seremoni Grade fish products in select Whole Foods stores across the U.S.
The firm utilizes the “ikejime” method of processing fish, which prioritizes humane and controlled slaughter, for its Seremoni Grade offerings and recently rolled out a patented robot system that automates the process across several species.
Now, its Seremoni Grade Sockeye Salmon and Seremoni Grade Red Snapper are available at various Whole Foods locations, including stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Chicago, Illinois; Austin. Texas; and Denver, Colorado.
"We’ve always believed that consumers shouldn’t have to choose between convenience and quality when it comes to seafood. This partnership with Whole Foods Market now is our first nationwide opportunity to bring Michelin-quality, delicious-tasting fish to the average household at one of the leading grocery chains in the country,” Shinkei Co-Founder Saif Khawaja told SeafoodSource.
Khawaja added that the national retail partnership allows the company to “meet consumers where they already shop and makes the Seremoni Grade experience accessible to even more people.”
The Whole Foods partnership builds upon existing retail collaborations for Seremoni Grade fish, which are already sold at Wegmans stores and specialty grocers such as FreshDirect, Santa Monica Seafood, Kowalski’s, and Town & Country Market.
The move comes shortly after the firm expanded into offering Alaska salmon with the launch of its PSDN-S harvesting robot that works on smaller vessels, such as those operating in Alaska. The new robot is 60 percent smaller than the flagship model but uses the same proprietary software, precision handling, and harvesting processes.
“Seremoni Grade reflects our team's boat-to-plate obsession with quality,” Khawaja said in a release in July. “Salmon gives us another opportunity to bring that philosophy to millions more people while we continue to champion American fishermen and transform how premium seafood is harvested.”
