Entries are being sought through Dec. 31 for the 22nd annual
Alaska Symphony of Seafood, with four product categories for events to be held
in Seattle, Anchorage and – for the first time – Juneau.
Winners in retail, food service, smoked products and Beyond
the Plate competition will get the opportunity of displaying their winning
products at the Seafood Expo in Boston – formerly known as the International
Boston Seafood Show – March 15-17.
The Symphony is hosted by the Alaska Fisheries Development
Foundation, and sponsored by a number of entities engaged in the seafood
industry. It offers seafood promoters a stage for introducing new value-added
seafood products made from Alaska seafood to seafood distributors, culinary
experts and national news media.
The goal is to inspire innovative ways to use Alaska’s
natural seafood resources.
The new category this year, Beyond the Plate, is open to
seafood by-products of many types.
“The definition of this category is a consumer-ready product
that is made with parts of seafood which would typically be deemed fish waste
or a byproduct of the primary processing, such as fish oil, pet treats, fish
leather and many others,” said Julie Decker, executive director of AFDF. “The
seafood industry has invested heavily in the development of new products from
traditionally unused seafood parts.”
The new category will help promote improvements in the
industry to reduce fish waste, develop new products and increase the value of
Alaska’s seafood, she said.
Each entry will be evaluated on the product’s packaging and
presentation, overall eating experience, price and potential for commercial
success.
Dates for Symphony events are to be announced before
December’s end.
More information is on the AFDF website, www.afdf.org
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