This summer, fresh sockeye sent to 1,500 groceries stores around the country will have a Bristol Bay logo on the package.
More salmon will be packaged with a reminder of its Bristol Bay origin this summer than in the past.
Copper River Seafoods will use a Bristol Bay logo on 100,000 packages of fresh sockeye fish summer, according to an announcement from the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association. That’s expected to go to 1,500 stores nationwide.
BBRSDA is the organization funded by drifters, and has paid increasing attention over the past year to what it can do to market fish specifically from Bristol Bay, including announcing plans this spring to launch a Bristol Bay brand in a test market this summer.
The Copper River labeling is a well-timed, but separate, effort. The communications firm working on the new brand helped get Copper River Seafoods in touch with BBRSDA to use the logo, said BBRSDA Executive Director Becky Martello.
“We haven’t in the past provided labels a lot for the bigger processors, but we were really excited when they approached us,” Martello said.
BBRSDA had already provided the logo for direct marketers wanting to showcase the origin of their fish.
So far, Copper River is the only large company with specific plans to use it this summer – but Martello said she’s hoping others might also follow suit.
“I’ve gotten some favorable response from a few of them, and just looking for an opportunity that might come up in the future,” she said.
