Alaskan Salmon parcels served at SalmonBar in Franschhoek
South Africa’s SalmonBar serves up MSC-certified fish
Jul 27, 2012
SalmonBar, in the picturesque winelands of South Africa’s Western Cape Province, has become the next independent restaurant to offer its patrons a range of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified dishes. At the launch of their new MSC menu on Wednesday, invited guests were treated to creative and tasty dishes using certified Alaskan salmon, mackerel, herring and South African hake. The historic town of Franschhoek, home to SalmonBar, is known as the food and wine capital of South Africa, with many of the top restaurants in the country situated within its quiet borders. The popular tourist town, an hour’s drive from Cape Town, has a strong wine culture, combined with pristine natural and architectural beauty and has become a sought after location for European and American buyers looking for a second home.
Some of the dishes on the new menu include Merluza a la Gallega – South African hake cooked the classic Galician way, with onions, chorizo, white wine and new potatoes - and Lightly Smoked Wild Alaskan salmon – served on bacon & potato hash, topped with watercress crème fraîche.
The success of SalmonBar in securing certification means that they are now able to use the blue MSC ‘fish with a tick’ ecolabel on their menu, a strong statement to their customers that they are committed to sustainable seafood. Fish sold with the prestigious MSC claim must be fully traceable back to a certified fishery and SalmonBar was required to undergo a third-party audit against the MSC’s Chain of Custody Standard for Seafood Traceability. In becoming certified they join a growing number of restaurants around the world that can demonstrate full traceability of the seafood they serve.
Placing sustainability at the heart of the business
SalmonBar was recently acquired by Three Streams Holdings. Within the group, Three Streams Smokehouse achieved MSC Chain of Custody in 2010 for processing and packing of MSC-certified products. Leana Schoeman, SalmonBar’s General Manager, said, “Although Three Streams was already certified the auditors needed to check the restaurant’s systems and processes to ensure that our ordering system, invoicing and handling procedures could ensure traceability of anything we sell as certified. Displaying the MSC ecolabel on our menu gives our customers the assurance that their choices are sustainable and it helps them to choose responsibly.”
Greg Stubbs, Three Streams’ CEO added, “We want to be able to offer our customers, both in the wholesale and retail sector, the best choice in responsibly farmed and wild caught seafood. For us sustainability makes good business sense and is at the heart of our long-term planning. Being able to trace our products to source and knowing the journey your food has travelled is incredibly important to us. We hope that customers will make their choices based on the MSC ecolabel – by doing so they are helping to create markets for sustainably caught fish."
Congratulating Salmon Bar on their achievement, Martin Purves, MSC’s Southern Africa Program Manager, said, "Today shows that the MSC program is growing in recognition in South Africa and is a valuable tool for forward thinking businesses wishing to demonstrate their sustainability credentials. Franschhoek is a popular tourist destination and SalmonBar is in a great position to show the world that they are taking the issue of sustainability seriously. At the MSC, we are extremely proud that our program has been able to meet their aspirations in communicating this commitment.”
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