Macgregors Seafood Notes

Bluenose is extremely tight this week. We recieved 1/10 of what we ordered. Some pretty good storms swept through New Zealand hampering fishing efforts. BUT, we do have very nice Barramundi Fillets, 1-2lbs each approx. for $12.95 - great deal, great substitute. And this is the real deal Australian Barramundi no less.

Paul

Sales Meeting:
Crab, crab and more crab...circle cuts, star cuts, single legs, trailer legs, portion cuts, double scored, claws, select portions, legs & claws, splits, clusters...
Confused? Or are you getting the idea that there is so much crab around, that the options are endless?
Take the time to speak to myself or your sales person about the spectacular opportunities that crab offers...for all price points. To be sure, crab needs to get on the menu and fast!

Lobster Tails:
continued discounting on smaller sizes and continued price increases on larger sizes. Looking for a lobster tail price point? Try 2oz! excellent scampi substitute and 8 pcs per pound!

King Crab:
Not only are the cut options availble, but when it comes to king crab, now is the best time of the year to be eating this delicacy. It just doesn't get any fresher...unless it was live!

Halibut:
New season opens in March, but there is some limited discounting going on to make sure the cupboards are bare for new season. We have a 4oz potion cut arriving this week, single frozen, product of Alaska, IQF packed in 10 lbs which we can sell under $10/lb.

Pink Shrimp:
Have you tried our Key West Pink Shrimp? Just may be the best tasting shrimp around. Available in shell on IQF form, U10, U12, 13-15 and 16-20 counts per pound.

Black Tigers:
continued price strengthening...stay tuned

Mr. Fish

We've got a great deal on True Australian Barramundi Fillets for next week. Most Barramundi people have in this market is Farm-Raised in New England of all places. They are typically smaller fish, like striped bass, graded out 1.5-2lb each. The True Australian Barramundi that we carry is Sea-Farmed and noticeably better quality. They are large fish - 5-7lb whole, so the filelts we are doing are between 1-2lbs, a size you can cut nice portions from. They are skin-on, scaled, and selling for $12.95/lb (typically $16+). Air direct from Southern Australia - don't be fooled by immitations.
Paul

Just finished shooting an instructional video for Bluenose Seabass for our website. It's our first one, so we're not sure how it will turn out. We're looking to give customers a closer look into some species such as what they look like whole, as fillets, what they can expect for yields and quick cooking demo. I'll let you know when we post it.

Paul

Snappers are in very short supply this week. I don't expect you'll find any American Red or B-Liner out there anywhere. We've got a limmited amount of Fresh New Zealand Premium Whole Snapper - 80641 @ $6.95/lb. They're 1-2lb each. Everything else is in good supply this week. Lots of Bluenose Seabass, Tasmanian Arctic Char, Swordfish, Grouper, Mahi, Pickerel, Striped Bass, Opah, Tuna etc. etc. etc...

You know how to get a hold of me if you need anything.

Paul

It was beautiful while it lasted. The week of January 23rd will be our last shipment of Tasmanian Char for the season/year. It'll be back in November. Don't worry though, we'll be taking some fresh fillets this comming week and doing a wonderful cold-smoked, pre-scliced product, which we'll freeze and sell by the piece. Looking for something special - there it is. Of course the Tasmanian Ocean trout will be available week-in week out, direct from the cleanest, most perfectly natural environment in the world.

Paul

Blogging...go figure...from Mr. fish no less! Functionally IT illiterate!

Seafood sales have been pleasantly bouyant the last couple weeks. I suppose the days are over when we see the dramatic spike at New Years and the consequence of poor business in early January.

January is, however, the time when our suppliers seem to re-organize and seem to clear out inventory. This year seems to be no different, as many offers are coming our way. Please, if you have something you want to discuss with regards to fish, now is a very good time. It is a great time to sell seafood, especially with many depressed markets. Crab products immediatley come to mind; how about 4-6 king crab? The first time in over 10 years this market has seen such a big king crab! What a "WOW!" product.

Shrimp too remains depressed, however, for the first time in months(shrimp market has been falling for two years in fact), there are upward price indications on the shrimp complex. Sign of things to come? Certainly we are being told to watch the large shrimp pricing, as there is a stronger overtone. I wouldn't panic yet, however...not like this is the first time we have been told shrimp prices are rising.

Squid- lots of activity here, as the Asian shortages are certainly showing up here in Canada. We do have options, so please stay in touch and let's use this as an opportunity to grow sales. Squid/Calamari is here to stay and offers great value for such a wonderful tasting product.

Southern Hemisphere fish is returning, as their fishing season is in full summer season. Lok for better pricing coming on species such as Mahi, and yes even Chilean Seabass- dare I even say the word seabass these days!?

Well enough for the first blog post...now let's see if it even works!

Mr. Fish

From February 2nd - 18th (Just in time for the Toronto Food & Beverage Show) I'll be "Down Under" visiting the fisheries that have been supplying us with the most exciting and best quality seafood in this market. I'll start in Tasmania harvesting Ocean Trout and Char and following the process from fingerling to catching a flight for Toronto. From there it's off to New Zealand where I'll be going to the source for Bluenose Seabass, John Dory, Tarakihi, Snappers, Alfonsino, Coromandel Oysters and many more. Trust I'll be back with more exciting products to make better menu's all over the city. Look for some hand-picked goodies on display at the Food Show.

Paul