Alaskan Leader Seafood exhibited for the first time at the 2023 Bar & Restaurant Expo. The company provides wild Alaska cod to the retail and restaurant markets via longline fishing—one hook, one fish for the careful handling of individually hooked fish.
We caught up with Keith Singleton, president of the Value Added Division at Alaskan Leader Seafood, to learn more about the company, what’s trending in seafood, and the brand’s experience at the Bar & Restaurant Expo.
Bar & Restaurant: Tell our readers more about Alaskan Leader Seafoods.
Keith Singleton: We're a fishing company. We’ve got about 200 employees and 185 are fishermen. That’s who we are. We're an American brand: The boats are built here. The fish are here. We're here. And if that’s important to you, we’re the right company.
We're actually a first processor, we process at sea, which separates us from a lot of the shore plants because we clean the fish immediately upon landing on the vessel and then we flash freeze them. Then we bring them to Seattle, filet them up, portion them, and send them out to the restaurant chains and supermarkets. It makes it the most economically feasible way to buy Alaskan seafood.
Sustainability is becoming more important to the consumer. Can you tell us about Alaskan Leader Seafood’s sustainability practices?
Actually, in today's environment, there's a lot of social governance going on. And for us, we are a hook and line fishing company. So we just drop a quarter-inch round line along the ocean floor with hooks, separated so many feet apart. And that way we don't tear up the bottom of the ocean with nets or pots or anything like that. So it makes it very sustainable in that when the fish come up, if it's a fish that is not in our quota or it's an untargeted species, it's still alive. So we cut it loose at the rail of the boat, and it swims away. It's the ultimate sustainability message when you can cut loose your bycatch.
On top of that, we take other parts of the fish that we're not using in human grade food, and we put that into pet food. Our skins are going to pet treats, our cod heads with collars go into a grind that goes into dog food and cat food with one of the major brands in the world. Then all that’s leftover is just the entrails. We haven't found a home for those yet, but we're working on it!
We’re also an MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified fishery.
What’s trending in seafood right now?
Flavors. Lots of flavors, sauces, marinades, rubs. Those are all really hot button items right now. So we've got one we're actually dealing now; it's a black cod, which is also part of our company's quota, and we're putting on a fresh miso marinade flown in from Japan. That's rolling out into supermarkets and clubs, stores, and hopefully restaurants as well. It's a trend. Everyone wants miso, it’s always been so expensive, and we finally got it to a point where it's economically feasible to actually bring it in, do it ourselves, and make the product in the USA.
You can get a blank piece of fish anywhere—whatever species you like. But [it’s about convenience], putting a different flavor on it and making it easy to cook. It's got to be able to be prepared in 15 minutes or less—that's the key.
How can offering seafood benefit bars/restaurants?
The nice thing about the portioned marinade is that if you get an estimate of how many dinner you're going to cook in a restaurant, you can bring it out the night before; let it thaw in it's individually wrapped, vacuum-sealed package; and then cut it open per order. You have a preheated oven ready to go at 400 degrees…the chef sticks it in the oven, bakes it 15 minutes, and serves it. And the appropriate time to be serving a patron in a restaurant is 15 minutes—you can’t let them sit there for 30 minutes waiting for dinner.
This was your first time exhibiting at the Bar & Restaurant Expo. What did you get out of the show?
The PBR beer-battered cod fish and chips was a big hit. It’s a PBR beer batter that we make ourselves with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. That is what we presented at the show, and it blew up. The orders coming out of that show have been unbelievable. So we're real excited about expanding for next year. We had them seven deep and 50 people waiting in line once they got the flavor of it.
The beer-battered cod is a homerun. All major distributors have it. It's not just trendy because fish and chips is so popular globally, but it's because that flavor is crazy good. It won Product of the Year for the state of Alaska in the white fish category.
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Plan to Attend or Participate in the 2024 Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 18-20, 2024
To learn about the latest trends, issues and hot topics, and to experience and taste the best products within the bar, restaurant and hospitality industry, plan to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo 2024 in Las Vegas. Visit BarandRestaurantExpo.com.
To book your sponsorship or exhibit space at the 2024 Bar & Restaurant Expo, contact:
Veronica Gonnello (for companies A to G) e: [email protected] p: 212-895-8244
Tim Schultz (for companies H to Q) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-8589
Fadi Alsayegh (for companies R to Z) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-5174
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