Aquaculture Stewardship Council and Pescanova Team Up for South Beach Seafood Festival

MIAMI – This October, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) North America and Pescanova USA are taking certified seafood to South Beach. Together the global nonprofit and sustainable seafood producer will showcase the best of certified shrimp at the nation’s premiere crustacean celebration, the 10^th annual South Beach Seafood Festival.

Held October 19-22, South Beach Seafood Festival is a coastal event like no other. The festival will host more than 15,000 “seafoodies” gathering over four blocks to celebrate and sample an array of delicious quality seafood, along with live music and other culinary activities under palms on the sandy shores of Miami Beach.

The event will see Pescanova serving up scampi samples of their responsibly raised, ASC-certified Vannamei Shrimp to VIP attendees. The organizations will co-host a booth highlighting the quality flavor and benefits of certified seafood, handled with care, through an array of lively Miami-style activations. Attendees will have a chance to win ASC-branded shades, limited edition t-shirts and ASC-certified, responsibly farmed shrimp from Pescanova.

The South Beach Seafood Festival is one of a dozen stops ASC is making this year as part of its first-ever U.S. marketing campaign. Its 2022 “New Way to Seafood” promotion features restaurant events, grocery sampling programs, food festivals and digital activations in Minneapolis, Miami and Philadelphia in collaboration with ASC-certified brands and distributors. The South Beach partnership with Pescanova is among the campaign’s largest, backed by nationwide digital engagement throughout 2022 and beyond.

“When we mapped out our 2022 U.S. tour, we knew South Beach was a go-to destination for ASC, not only because of its scale, but because it lets us engage with some of the choicest seafood lovers in the nation,” said Athena Davis, Marketing Manager, ASC North America.  “Pescanova is an exciting partner to dive into the seafood scene with ASC as we share the value of our program in Miami and nationwide. The ability to make informed, responsible decisions about what we eat and where it comes from should be afforded to everyone. Companies like Pescanova help make that possible.”

“Pescanova has provided quality seafood since 1960 and, as our reach has grown, our sustainability program has evolved in incredible ways,” added Chris Maze, President and CEO, Pescanova USA. “Our partnership with ASC demonstrates not only that farming can be done responsibly at large-scale with the right certification and label in place, but that it results in tasty, top-tier products we look forward to sharing with beachgoers this fall.”

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, available in the U.S. at Target, Albertson’s, Food Lion, Harris Teeter and Hitchcock Markets. 

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. Furthermore, ASC recently announced the 2022 launch of its new chain of custody module that aims to further address issues like seafood fraud and mislabeling, food safety and use of antibiotics, and to increase opportunities for physical product checks.

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.