GFC

One of the most scenic locations in Alaska, Kachemak Bay, is also the home of the Kachemak Bay Oyster Coop.   Tucked away on the south side of the bay, it is a low impact, year round, industry that is less then an hour's boat ride from Homer.    Up until now the farmers coop has been relatively quiet, but that changed last year beginning with their grand opening on the "mainland".  We get the latest from Sean Crosby, Business Manager of the Kachemak Bay Oyster Coop.

What's new to buy?    That's one of the most frequent questions we get at CI.    While telling the story is important - commercial buyers are driven by time pressures that require them to cut to the chase and source. 

The recently completed, annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood awards is an excellent way to highlight exactly what is new and beyond that, what consumers and experts find appealing.  American Pride Seafoods won two of the top three medals this year within the Foodservice category awards competition. 

The new products include American Pride Seafood's, Chef’s Special Collection™ Zesty Lemon Flounder and its Pank-O-Licious™ Kickin’ Buffalo Deep Skinned Alaska Pollock Sliders. Bryan Elmore, American Pride Seafood's Marketing Manager said, "We are honored to receive these awards and we are very pleased with the success that our customers are experiencing with our new products. This is a testament to the homework we do with our customers to develop new and exciting product concepts to market”.

Tom Gemmell, Marine Conservation Alliance

Fish Calendar 2010

Mar 14-16.  International Boston Seafood Show   

Mar 15.  Go Wild, Alaska Style!, Boston 2010 Alaska Reception in Boston, A Ticketed Event.

These food products are considered the mostly highly sensitive to time and temperature that has a direct impact on their food safety.

• Milk and dairy products
• Eggs (except those treated to eliminate microorganisms)
• Meat (beef, pork and lamb)
• Poultry
• Fish and shellfish
• Baked Potatoes
• Heat-treated plant foods (rice, beans, and vegetables)
• Tofu and other soy proteins
• Sprouts and sprout seeds
• Sliced melons and cut tomatoes

Monitoring time and temperature, after the fact, is simply not good enough for those truly concerned about food safety.    A demand for secure, controlled temperature for transport and distribution of these sensitive foods has been triggered by even more changes in the 2010 marketplace.

It is with great pleasure, that I introduce you to Kearin Schulte, my new (and only) partner of Global Food Collaborative, LLC.    The partnership became final on January 1st, 2010 and she has already been active (behind the scenes) in the business.  I know most of you are anxious to meet her, if you have not already.      She will be participating with me next week at the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim and the International Boston Seafood Show the following week.

Her title may explain that we're taking connecting the supply chain to a higher level.   

Kearin Schulte, Connections Manager

Please read on and introduce yourself to Kearin.  I know you will find her genuinely interested in your respective businesses and helpful to your growth and success.     -  Robin

Tom Gemmell, Marine Conservation Alliance

Table of Contents

FEDERAL

1.      Nossaman Launches Endangered Species Law & Policy Blog (3/1)
2.      Coast Guard's newest National Security Cutter to arrive at Alameda, Calif. (2/26)
3.      GAO – report on Coast Guard personnel issues (1/29)
4.      Steller Sea Lion BiOp Delayed (3/3)

Continued By Linking On Article Title (Above)

We're not sure there is a more timely or overwhelming topic for our sector then food safety and social responsibility.   In fact, at the recent Seafood Choices Sustainability Summit in Paris, it was screaming clear that institutional buyers and their consumers are asking hard questions about the entire life cycle of the product.     Sitting next to Andrew Furner of Trace Register, we watched buyers repeatedly address their strategic plans.    It was clear they were mobilizing with policies that were no longer a one-issue solution.   They were developing comprehensive solutions that were data driven.      I was curious to know what Trace Register brought to the marketplace to meet an ever growing list of must have's.  Here is a Q/A with Andrew Furner, VP of Trace Register and an international tracing solutions company.

The bar is definitely being raised at the Farm Service Agency.    While it has been a staple of Alaska's Agricultural industry, it is lesser known outside of their traditional farm family constituents.   As the new Alaska Director of the Farm Service Agency, Danny Consenstein is working hard to raise the access for more Alaskans, but not just any Alaskans.

We announced in our January newsletter that Global Food Collaborative, LLC. would be unveiling our Preferred Business Partners.

Preferred Business Partners are companies that meet the following criteria.

Offer professional services that:

• have been expressed as greatest need by our GFC member companies.
• can be delivered to GFC members no matter the time zone or geographic location. 
• are specialized to the supply chain of food, beverage and agri-products.
• can strengthen the sustainability of our GFC member businesses.
• can offer GFC members a preferred discount positively impacting their bottom line.

We are pleased to announce our first Preferred Business Partner for 2010.

This is the time of year that most fresh buyers, harvesters and shippers are looking at their transportation requirements for summer season.     The summer of 2010 may be the most challenging year, yet - with an abundance of changing regulations.      Therefore, we asked PJ Cranmer, Alaska Station Manager of Commodity Forwarders, Inc., some questions that had been asked by our members over the past couple of months.

CI:  Our readers are already writing about all of the new regulations that will be impacting their domestic and international shipments during 2010.     There is a lot new.   Can you give us a quick run-down of what suppliers and buyers should be aware of? 

PJ:  TSA was mandated by Congress to increase security on passenger airplanes.  In response they have a timeline for August 2010, all passenger aircrafts cargo must be 100% screened.  This means each box must be screened prior to departure.  Also new, EU shipments are now required to have a Catch Certificate, in addition to their standard Health Certificates.

The Farm Service Agency has been keeping us up to date with the progress of the Geographically Disadvanaged Farmer program.   As you may remember, it was included in the 2008 Farm Bill as a result of hard work and persistence done by our federal representatives.     The program recognizes that farmers and ranchers in Hawaii and Alaska are at a competitive disadvantage due to transportation costs for inputs and outputs.  The original 2003 report demonstrating this inequity is attached and the basis for the 2008 additional.     The Farm Bill now provides a mechanism to compensate for geographically disadvantaged farmers and ranchers by off-setting some in-bound and out-bound transportation costs.

You may recognize the brand - Permafrost Vodka.  It was one of the biggest hits at Global Food Alaska 2009 and continues to roll out new ultra premium product and marketing materials.     Recently, the company changed their name from Glacier Creek Distillery to Alaska Distillery and along with that made some other announcements. 

Where does your food come from?    What are the ingredients?   How many handled the product between harvest and your home?    The Pacific Culinary Studio in Everett Washington features an especially interesting Guest Chef program in February that gets right down to it.     Shelly Muzzall and her daughter Roshell, owners of 3 Sisters Cattle Company, will be Guest Chef's preparing their own local grass fed beef.  During the evening they will introduce their farm, prepare meals and give their 5th generation farm to fork story. 

Tonia Winkler is selling happiness.    How?  She prepares and sells her specialty biscotti and sees the smiles after people take their first bite.

A good friend recently reminded me that having an occasional bite of chocolate or a sweet improves attitudes - a good option to offset the winter chills compounded with lack of daylight.    With all of the exercise ads and diet commercials of late, I suppose the "happiness factor" had skipped my mind.    Now, Tonia reminds us she is selling happiness.      Who couldn't use a little or a lot of that?   And what about for your Valentine?     How about a little happiness for those you love?      Tonia's Biscotti has a continually growing list of products and a growing list of distribution locations.   

Although we're many months away from the first of Alaska's wild salmon runs, it is not too early to source product that meets your specifications.    Now is definitely the time for conversations with your suppliers about your  2010 buying requirements.   Now is the time to ask questions and be clear about your supply chain specifications - providing you the opportunity to lock down your transportation and handling.

As suppliers provide updates on their 2010 products, we will post them here and in Collaborative INSIGHTS.  But let's start by unveiling of Copper River harvester, Bill Webber's "hot off the presses" new label.

Last summer, SeaShare sent its first shipment of seafood to the Food Bank of Alaska.     The first shipment consisted of 25,000 pounds of canned salmon.    The second shipment consisted of 30,000 pounds of silver salmon, rapidly followed last month by two trailer loads of nearly 63,000 pounds of canned salmon. 

This was a spectacular supply chain collaboration with kudos going to many, but it certainly never would have happened without the quiet stewardship of Reggie Buchanan, Food Resources Manager, Food Bank Of Alaska and Jim Harman, Executive Director of SeaShare.

Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation (HFBF) members have gotten a boost from the latest collaboration with Aloha Air Cargo for a special air freight discount program.     The discount provide HFBF members up to 35% off of Aloha Air Cargo freighter service when shipping  locally grown or ‘Made in Hawaii’ packaged products.

With the U.S. Congress back in session, there is hope that work on food safety legislation will soon pick up steam.  One of the issues that will be part of that discussion is "traceability."  In the food safety context, the term is meant to refer to the ability to track specific food within the chain of distribution, preferably from "farm to fork."

Entire Article At Food Safety News Here

Seeing red in 2009?   So was Carol Kenley, but for a very good reason.  With great enthusiasm,  "Let's talk rhubarb", says Carol.    The rhubarb plant is plentiful in Alaska and more recently harvesters, like Carol are collaborating on ways to better utilize it for cutting edge health and nutritional applications.   Carol is fortified by the spirit of her family's tradition - in fact they were Alaska's 2009 Farm Family.