The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) has announced the 2023 Alaska Symphony of Seafood, including a call for products to be featured in the event.
This year, the symphony will feature six separate special awards – Grand Prize, Salmon, Whitefish, Seattle People’s Choice, Juneau People’s Choice, and the Bristol Bay Choice – in addition to the categories of Retail, Foodservice and Beyond the Plate.
The new categories will allow more opportunities for promotion and recognition, including increased exposure for value-added products out of Bristol Bay, the AFDF said.
The Bristol Bay Choice was awarded for the first time in 2022 to a value-added product from Bristol Bay Sockeye, with the award intended to help raise awareness of high-quality products from the Bristol Bay region.
The first-place winners from each category, plus the Bristol Bay Choice, will receive booth space at Seafood Expo North America (SENA) and the Seafood Excellence Awards competition, as well as airfare to and from the show provided by Symphony of Seafood sponsor Alaska Air Cargo.
Since 1994, AFDF has organized the “symphony,” a competition for commercial-ready value‐added products made from Alaska seafood. The event encourages companies to invest in value-added product development, helps promote those new products, and serves to competitively position Alaska seafood in national and global markets.
“Product development is critically important to the entire industry and the fishing communities that depend on it,” the AFDF said. “Innovative new products position the industry to remain competitive and relevant to consumers.”
Previous winners and entrants have leveraged the symphony platform and continue to see increased sales and market exposure of their products. Last year, Ocean Beauty Seafoods’ Echo Falls Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon Tapas Slice – Mediterranean was a double winner in the Retail and Salmon categories, and then moved on to be a finalist in the Seafood Excellence Awards during SENA in Boston.
The first of this year’s events, the Seattle Open House, will be held 16 November, 2022, and will be co-hosted with the Northwest Fisheries Association at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. All the products entered into the competition will be prepared and displayed by professional culinary staff. Following the judging, an open house will be held for all entrants, seafood industry invitees, sponsors, the press, and the judges.
The next event will be an awards ceremony in Juneau, Alaska, on 23 February, 2023, co-hosted by United Fishermen of Alaska, allowing the display and sampling of products by the Alaska Legislature and other special guests.
The deadline for entry into this year’s competition is 21 October, 2022.
Image courtesy of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation
