Delivering high-quality, wild-caught seafood from the icy waters of Alaska right to your doorstep requires an efficient, effective, and meticulous process.
That’s why Wild Alaskan Company has designed a USA-based temperature-controlled supply chain — otherwise known as a cold chain — to ensure that it preserves the quality, integrity and texture of Alaskan seafood.
Our cold chain allows us to deliver a box of seafood to your doorstep, no matter where you are in the country. To help you get acquainted with our process, let’s walk through the cold chain from the sea to your home.
1. Seafood Harvested and Preserved in Alaska
All seafood from Wild Alaskan Company is harvested off the shores of Alaska, with different species sourced from different Alaskan fisheries.
After that, the seafood is promptly cleaned and frozen in order to preserve its freshness. This is one of the most critical steps in any cold chain of wild-caught fish, as it has a significant effect on the quality of the final product. In many cases, this step in the cold chain is what distinguishes a reputable purveyor of seafood from one that is willing to cut corners at the expense of quality.
If you’re wondering why our product is sent to you frozen rather than “fresh,” bear in mind that the term “fresh” is often used as a marketing tactic; unless we’re talking about live shellfish or another species that has been caught locally, chances are that the unfrozen product you see laid out at a local grocer’s counter was frozen before being thawed for presentation. It might sound strange, but the truth is that when it comes to wild-caught seafood from Alaska, freshness has everything to do with how quickly your seafood has been frozen.
2. U.S.-Based Seafood Processing, Packaging, and Quality Control
After these initial first steps are completed, the seafood needs to be processed, controlled for quality, and packed at U.S. facilities before it can be shipped to Wild Alaskan Company members.
Although some companies export their seafood abroad for processing, Wild Alaskan Company processes all products in the USA at local facilities up in Alaska or shipped frozen to a co-packager in the Pacific Northwest. The processors are responsible for removing pin bones from the fillets (when necessary), cutting the seafood down to size, and doing final quality checks. Then, the seafood is finished with a protective ice glaze and packaged into perfect portions that are ready to ship to your doorstep.
Processing and packaging seafood in the cold chain, using domestic facilities in the USA, is the best way to preserve the high-quality Alaskan seafood.
3. Seafood Cold Storage and Fulfillment
After the seafood is processed, it’s held at a cold storage facility in Washington for a week or two until we know that you’re ready for your next shipment. From there, we use freezer trucks to ship to various cold storage fulfillment centers that are strategically located across the country in California, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Florida, Delaware, and New Jersey. Having ready-to-ship seafood in regional cold storage facilities allows us to offer you our finest catch — whether you live to the north, south, east or west.
4. Alaskan Seafood Shipped to Your Door
Finally, you get to do your part in completing this cold chain process by packing and storing your seafood correctly.
Every step of our cold chain was designed to bring you as close as you can get to eating fish straight off the boat. By following the best practices to keep sustainably-sourced food flowing from Alaska to your home, we hope to do our part in honoring the uniquely Alaskan traditions that have been passed down through the generations, an experience that third-generation commercial fisherman and our founder Arron Kallenberg takes great pride in sharing with our members.
FAQs on Salmon Harvesting and Processing
Where is Wild Alaskan Company's salmon sourced?
Wild Alaskan Company sources each species of wild salmon from sustainably managed fisheries in Alaska.
Is wild Alaska salmon from Wild Alaskan Company processed abroad?
No, Wild Alaskan Company's offerings are never processed abroad. Each species of wild salmon is processed at either a local facility in Alaska or in the Pacific Northwest.
