Business Central February 2021

64 | SEAFOOD INDUSTRY Gisborne Fisheries Phone: 03 983 5500 waterfordpress.co.nz Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST? Quality fish from ocean to plate Gisborne Fisheries’ boats harvest fish on short, regular trips to ensure it can be delivered wharfside fresh. EASTLAND’S LOCALLY OWNED COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING SUPPLIER · Packaging and industrial products · Health and safety equipment · Forestry harvesting · Silviculture equipment · Cafeteria supplies · Cleaning and hygiene products 21 Banks Street, Awapuni, Gisborne • brent@baytrade.co.nz • www.baytrade.co.nz James Milligan Manager 84 Nelson Rd, Taupaki, Auckland PO Box 95-034 Swanson, Auckland, NZ M: 0274 949 233 E: milligantrawls@xtra.co.nz MANUFACTURERS OF QUALITY TRAWL NETS AND EQUIPMENT Proud to supply the long standing business of Gisborne fisheries T he Zame family’s love for the sea, fish, and fishing has been passed from one generation to the next, while the drive to always look for new and better ways has helped to keep its business, Gisborne Fisher- ies, modern and effective. 80 years of involvement has given the Zame family a sound understanding of the fishing industry, from ocean to plate, and enables Gisborne Fisheries to deliver the same level of high quality product every single time. Gisborne Fisheries has survived and thrived for so long by staying ahead of developing trends. It was the consumer’s desire for convenience which led Gisborne Fisheries to develop its consumer brand, East Rock. East Rock managing director Bart Zame says East Rock operates under the philosophy of delivering premium, traceable, and sustaina- ble seafood from the ocean to your plate. This produce is delivered direct to house- holds, to households through WOOP food boxes, to restaurants, and to retail stores. The journey f begins in Gisborne, where Gis- borne Fisheries’ boats harvest fish on short, regular trips to ensure it can be delivered wharfside fresh. The small size of the catch enables rapid chilling of the fish to ensure freshness. The catch is taken to Gisborne Fisheries’ handling site, just minutes away from the dock, where it is filleted, skinned, and boned by an expert processing team. Fillets are por- tioned into 250g servings, ideal for two serv- ings. Fish is prepared, packed, and dispatched from the factory on the same day. Every piece of East Rock fish can be traced back to the boat it was caught on, and the area it was caught in. Kelly Deeks “That information goes all the way through to our 250g retail trade pack, and also out to our food service customers,” Bart says. “The wait staff are able to tell the story of the fish, and if the customer is interested, they can look up online and see what the weather was like that day and what it was like out on the water. They can get a feel for the story of the product and how it got to them.” Consistent high quality is a given if you’re playing in the premium end of the market, and for East Rock it means whenever a cus- tomer buys East Rock fish from the supermar- ket, they will know it’s going to be exactly the same as the fish burger they had from Burger Burger, one of East Rock’s commercial clients. And consistent quality means doing a lot of small things right along the way. “It’s everything from the length of the fishing trip, the size of the boats, the proximity of the fishing grounds, the proximity of the wharf to the facility. “80 years of doing this enables us to achieve the same level of high quality every single time.” East Rock is now doing a limited release of a crayfish product, which came about from absorbing some market insights and thinking differently about what consumers might be looking for while they spend more time at home. The frozen crayfish product will be available through retailers and comes with simple cook- ing instructions for those who haven’t handled crayfish before, and can go from the freezer to the table in 30 minutes. “The wait staff are able to tell the story of the fish, and if the customer is interested, they can look up online and see what the weather was like that day and what it was like out on the water. They can get a feel for the story of the product and how it got to them.”