Seasonal Skrei Cod from Northern Norway – Available February to April 2017
Premium retailers, Whole Foods Market, Booths, Selfridges and Harrods, and top restaurants are showing their support for seasonal and sustainable seafood as they gear up to place Skrei cod from Northern Norway on their counters and menus for this year’s season, from February until April 2017.
Skrei (pronounced Skray) is a migratory cod from Norway, caught in its prime and in perfect condition after an arduous 1,000km swim from the Barents Sea to Northern Norway, and it is only available between January-April every year. Thanks to this rather epic journey, Skrei is lean and rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. It also enjoys a firm flesh with obvious fat lines and chunky pearly white flakes that melt away effortlessly during cooking.
Due to the nature of the migratory cod, the arrival date of Skrei to the UK market is tricky to predict, however The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) expects the first Skrei to hit UK retail in February 2017. Regardless of its somewhat unpredictable arrival, without fail Skrei is always welcomed with great excitement.
This highly revered, seasonal product was first introduced into the UK in January 2012 as the premium cod for restaurant menus and high-end retail during January-April. Since then, the NSC has worked to build and secure Skrei’s premium position in the market. As a result, Skrei has been swept up by the UK’s finest chefs, including Ambassador Michel Roux Jr, Simon Hulstone and Daniel Galmiche. Even Monica Galetti, Ollie Dabbous and Robin Gill have ventured out of their kitchens to Norway to catch and eat Skrei right at its source.
Come February 2017, more of the UK’s best chefs including Glynn Purnell, Daniel Clifford and Sat Bains, will be travelling out to the island of Sommarøy to see, catch and cook Skrei before bringing their inspiration back to their restaurant tables for UK consumers to enjoy in the first few months of the New Year.
There is no doubt that Skrei is simply white gold for any serious seasonal restaurant menu and NSC is excited to see UK retail is joining our finest chefs, by putting Skrei firmly on their sustainable and seasonal product listing for another year.
Whole Foods Market in particular will work with NSC to promote Skrei throughout the season with tastings and bespoke POS, in addition to offering customers the chance to dine at a Skrei supper club hosted by Michel Roux Jr at their flagship Kensington store on 28th February. Readers can sign up for the supper club on Eventbrite.
The NSC will run marketing activities for cod and other species, including Norwegian haddock, salmon and fjord trout later this year, starting with the 2017 Norwegian Cod & Haddock Conference in London on 25thJanuary, which includes talks from the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Fiskebåt, Professor David Hughes and the Norwegian Seafood Federation.
Michel Roux Jr – Skrei AmbassadorSkrei Ambassador, Michel Roux Jr Comments:
“As a chef, I am always looking for exceptional ingredients, Skrei cod is one of those that never lets me down. The texture, taste and assured quality is what makes Skrei one of the finest products to cook with.”
Jack-Robert Møller, NSC UK Director Comments:
“The nature of this wild migratory cod of course means that we cannot predict the arrival date of Skrei to their original spawning grounds of Lofoten and Vesterålen. Weather conditions can also affect the catch of the quality product. This year, the arrival and subsequent catch of Skrei in Northern Norway has been a little later than usual. Despite this slow start, we are very much looking forward to another strong, high quality season and we expect the UK to have full access to Skrei from February until April 2017. It has been highly encouraging to see the demand for Skrei increasing since its introduction to the UK in 2012 – sales have tripled in this period. We have strong support from the premium retailers, not to mention the finest chefs, fishmongers and of course our distribution partners. This support has allowed Skrei to be a fantastic sales success across the UK and Europe and the total sales volume to Europe is expected to be 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes for 2017, depending on availability of the fish.”
For more information about Norwegian Seafood Council click here