MIAMI – Last weekend on the sunny shores of Miami, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) North America and Pescanova USA served up ASC-certified seafood to more than 3,000 visitors at the nation’s premiere seafood celebration, the 10th annual South Beach Seafood Festival (SOBESF).
ASC and Pescanova’s Miami-themed activation booth – decked out for National Seafood Month – was among the largest of ASC’s 2022 promotions. The tasting and educational activation is part of a series of consumer activities being conducted in select markets as part of the nonprofit organization’s first-ever national U.S. marketing campaign.
Held October 19-22, SOBESF hosted more than 15,000 “seafoodies” gathering over four blocks to celebrate and sample an array of delicious seafood, along with music and other culinary activities under the sunshine and palms of sandy Miami Beach.
At a custom beach-shack style booth within the friendly confines of SOBESF’s VIP section, the two organizations served up samples of Pescanova’s responsibly raised, ASC-certified Vannamei shrimp to attendees who paid a premium admission to engage more deeply with exhibitors. The creamy shrimp scampi with crostini and classic Old Bay shrimp with cocktail sauce were a certified hit. In addition to a selfie station, booth visitors also had the chance to win limited edition, artist-designed “ASC North American Tour” T-shirts, Miami-themed branded shades and a seafood giveaway.
SOBESF is one of a dozen activations ASC is conducting this year. Its 2022 “New Way to Seafood” promotion features restaurant events, grocery sampling programs, food festivals, digital activations and more in Minneapolis, Miami and Philadelphia in collaboration with ASC-certified partners. The tour continues in 2023 with immersions in Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and Southern California.
“A huge aim of our local market activations is to share all the great reasons to buy responsibly raised, ASC-labeled seafood directly with shoppers. South Beach Seafood Festival is one of the nation’s highest profile seafood festivals, and we had a captive audience of seafood lovers interested to taste and eager to learn more about the benefits of certified seafood,” said Athena Davis, marketing manager, ASC North America. “We’re extremely grateful to Pescanova USA for their partnership in making this event a delicious success.”
“It’s not enough to produce and provide quality, sustainably raised seafood. We want to show and tell this story in a meaningful way to consumers so they can make informed choices at their local grocery store,” added Chris Maze, CEO of Pescanova USA. “Our partnership with ASC at such an exciting venue was a phenomenal way to bring this to life.”
Pescanova has three ASC-certified processing plants and multiple ASC-certified farms in two countries, having sold more than 20,000 tons of ASC-certified product in 2021 worldwide, including its best-selling Vannamei shrimp.
The “Pescanova Blue” Sustainability Program promotes more sustainable operations and practices with the biological, environmental, technological, economic, commercial and social aspects of their business.
ASC develops and manages the strictest standards in the industry for:
- Improving farmed seafood quality and safety.
- Ensuring supply chain integrity from the farm to the store.
- Providing the most comprehensive transparency through public disclosure.
- Protecting the environment, workers and communities.
ASC’s sea green label only appears on seafood from farms that have been independently assessed and certified as environmentally and socially responsible. The ASC certification label the best way to ensure the seafood you’re buying is what it claims to be. For more information, visit NewWaytoSeafood.com.
