Global Food Collaborative

PRESS RELEASE:  June 16, 2009

Emmonak, Alaska—With the latest signs from the Yukon River pointing to a plentiful chum run during the June opening, Kwik’pak Fisheries plans to launch its fully traceable keta salmon—“The King of Ketas”—in a major target-city push this season.

The campaign hits supermarkets and restaurants in the West, Southwest, Midwest, and East Coast in early July, and will feature ads, in-store specials, and food editor releases.  Major U.S. markets involved include Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, Peoria, Upstate New York, and Boston.   In addition, many supermarkets will run the keta promotion store-wide in several cities. 

Kwik’pak is working with Seattle-based Trace Register (www.traceregister.com) to create a consumer-friendly label that purchasers of their salmon can “read” and trace back to the source, according to Kwik’pak’s General Manager, Jack Schultheis.  Schultheis said the use of the Trace Register™ system is designed to ensure that consumers are getting the product they are paying for—not a substitute. 

“This is a valuable fish, and we are committed to leading the industry by using traceability to protect against fraud,” Schultheis said.  “It is also our goal to ensure that the Yupik fishermen who supply our company are getting a well-deserved premium for their efforts and for their superior salmon.”  Recent laboratory tests have shown that Yukon keta salmon are higher in oil—ranging from eight to 20 percent—than king salmon from other parts of Alaska.

The marketplace has enthusiastically embraced the traceable Yukon salmon program, Schultheis said.  “We are pleased to be the first wild salmon producer to offer a 100 percent traceable product to the marketplace,” he added.

ABOUT KWIK’PAK FISHERIES
Community-owned Kwik’pak Fisheries LLC was founded in 2002 to provide economic security to the remote Yukon Delta villages of Alakanuk, Emmonak, Grayling, Kotlik, Nunam Iqua and Mountain Village. Kwik’pak Fisheries is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council and is the only seafood company member of the Fair Trade Federation.  For more information on Yukon salmon or Kwik’pak Fisheries, visit www.kwikpakfisheries.com.

ABOUT TRACE REGISTER
Seattle-based Trace Register, LLC is a global food traceability company that provides web-based chain traceability to companies in 160 countries.  For more information on traceable seafood, contact Andy Furner, 206-621-1601, ext. 115 or visit www.traceregister.com.