Bambino’s Baby Food’s Hali Halibut, created by an Anchorage mom looking to provide healthier foods for infants, won the grand prize at the Alaska Symphony of Seafood. Zoi Maroudos, owner and president of the company, also took first price in retail competition, and won the People’s Choice awards at the Symphony’s Juneau and Anchorage galas.
Trident Seafood’s bite size Fiesta Salmon Bites was the People’s Choice winner at the Seattle gala.
First prize in food service went to Canned Smoked Herring, from Deckhand Seafoods, owned by Warner Lew, fleet manager in Bristol Bay for Icicle Seafoods, and Smoked Salmon Caviar from Dick Hand’s Alaska Seafood Co. in Juneau took first price in the Symphony’s new “Beyond the Egg” category.
While Maroudos and Lew are relatively new in the retail marketing of their products, Hand, whose company specializes in smoked fish, is not. He has been selling salmon caviar on the company’s website, www.alaskaseafoodcompany.com, for years, promoting it as the only shelf stable caviar in Alaska. Sixteen years ago, his smoked salmon caviar won first prize in the Symphony’s smoked seafood competition, a category no longer included in the competition.
In the competition’s “Beyond the Plate” competition, showcasing specialty products made from non-traditional fish parts, first prize went to ArXotica’s Quyung-lii Anti-Aging Skin Serum, the creation of triplet sisters from Bethel, Alaska.
The awards were presented on Feb. 19 at the Anchorage gala. All four winners will receive booth space at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston in March, as well as airfare to and from the show provided by Alaska Airlines, one of the Symphony’s major sponsors. Other major sponsors include Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Alaska Air Cargo, Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, At-Sea Processors Association, Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. Northwest Fisheries Association, Kwik’Pak Fisheries LLC, Trident Seafoods, Unisea and United Fishermen of Alaska.