Unique to Western Australia
Unique to Western Australia
Australia-based Abrolhos Octopus has launched multiple Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified octopus products during Seafood Expo Global, running from 6 to 8 May in Barcelona, Spain.
The company, which sells Western Rock Octopus caught off the western cost of Australia, has launched a new 1-kilogram bag of cooked octopus tentacles designed for foodservice, a 300-gram cooked tentacle product for retail, and a 180-milliliter jar of its new octopus sauce. Abrolhos Octopus Director Dion van der Merwe told SeafoodSource the new cooked products are designed to offer both foodservice operators and retail customers an easy, low-labor way to enjoy what the company calls “the wagyu of octopus.”
“What makes us a little bit different from everyone else is that we’ve actually [individually quick freeze] each individual tentacle,” van der Merwe said.
That process allows a customer to take out only as much of the product as they need for a given dish, while putting the rest back into a freezer for later.
As restaurants grapple with labor challenges, the new cooked product offers a more convenient way of utilizing the company’s MSC-certified octopus.
“Where people don’t really have the skills or the knowledge of how to cook octopus, they see an octopus and they get scared,” van der Merwe said. “They think, am I going to boil it? There are stories of people hitting it on a rock – which you don’t need to do with our octopus, it’s naturally tender – and it scares them off.”
The cooked 1kg bag offers a restaurant the ability to serve a high-end octopus product without worrying about proper cooking or training, meaning even something like a corner pub could offer a high-end octopus appetizer.
“It’s perfect for street food, perfect for pub food as a starter, and you really get to enjoy a popular Australian seafood dish,” van der Merwe said.
The 300 gram cooked tentacle product, which is about to launch in retail markets, offers a similar level of convenience at home for customers that are scared of cooking octopus.
–Chris Chase. May 7. seafoodsource.com
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/foodservice-retail/abrolhus-octopus-launches-multiple-msc-certified-octopus-products-at-seafood-expo-global
