Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) unveiled the winners of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood during an awards ceremony on Feb. 22, with Coppa’s Candied Salmon Ice Cream snagging the grand prize.

The Symphony is an annual contest for new value added products made from Alaska seafood.  

The goal of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood is to increase the value of Alaska’s seafood by encouraging product development which diversifies markets, utilizes more of the resource, and reduces fish waste.

This year’s first place winners in each category included:

  • Foodservice:  Coppa’s Candied Salmon Ice Cream
  • Retail:  Authentic Alaska’s Dear North – Alaska Salmon Bites
  • Beyond the plate:  Tidal Vision’s Crystal Clarity  
  • Beyond the egg:  Triad Fisheries’ Bruce Gore Coho Salmon Bottarga

The grand prize, awarded to the product that received the highest overall score, went to Coppa’s Candied Salmon Ice Cream.   

The people’s choice, awarded to the highest those which gained the most votes from the attendees, went to the following companies at each of the two venues:

  • Seattle:  Oregon Seafoods’ SeaFare Pacific Salmon Chowder
  • Juneau:  Coppa’s Candied Salmon Ice Cream.   

"We're grateful to everyone who made this win possible, especially our suppliers of world class sockeye salmon ‐ Taku River Reds," said Marc Wheeler, who is co‐owner of Coppa with his wife Jessica Paris.

The first place winners from each category and the grand prize winner will receive booth space at the Seafood Expo North America in March, as well as airfare to and from the show provided by sponsor, Alaska Air Cargo.  

The Alaska Symphony of Seafood kicked off on Jan. 25 in Seattle.   

The competition enlists chefs and industry experts to pick the best new seafood products each year.  In Seattle, the judges tasted, deliberated, and scored all of the products.  

Evaluations were based on the products’ packaging and presentation, overall eating experience, price and potential for commercial success.  

This year’s judges included:  Alex Oliveira with BluWrap, Karl Uri and Michael Kohan with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Maria Weeg with Hilltop Public Solutions, Maggie Beaton with Marine Stewardship Council, Paige Bloskey with FareStart, Katherine Kehrli with Seattle Colleges, Christine Schantz with Good Food Foundation, Erik O’Brien with Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference and IntraFish’s very own Avani Nadkarni.

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