The U.S. Department of Agriculture has shelled out USD 5.3 million (EUR 4.9 million) for more than 156,000 cases of canned wild Alaska pink salmon that the office plans to distribute for the purpose of child nutrition and other related domestic food assistance programs for fiscal year 2016.
The canners with the best bids include Trident Seafood, which sold 94,240 cases of one pound tall cans from its Cordova plant, worth approximately USD 2.9 million (EUR 2.7 million); Ocean Beauty Seafoods, with 60,800 cases from its Excursion Inlet, west of Juneau, valued at nearly USD 2.3 million (2.1 EUR million); and Peter Pan Seafoods, which sold 1,520 cases – worth USD 60,967 (EUR 57,464) – from its Astoria, Oregon plant.
The bids came as a result of a solicitation issued by the USDA on 22 October. Shipments are expected to be made starting 1 February through 31 August next year, according to agency and the Cordoba Times.
According to Bruce Schactler, food aid program and development director at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute who works with the USDA to assure that canned salmon reaches those in need, the purchases “maybe a little bit above average,” per the Cordoba Times.
The agency will put such purchases toward programs that fall under the USDA Food and Nutrition Service umbrella, like the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program. What’s more, in August, the USDA announced that it would be putting USD 30 million (EUR 28.2 million) toward surplus Alaska canned sockeye salmon for its Emergency Food Assistance Program.
