Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abewardena formally presenting the BOI Certification of Registration to Irfan Thassim, Founder and Director of Oceanpick Ltd. Omar Kayaam, Director of Oceanpick Ltd is also present
Oceanpick took culinary teams from the leading hotels in the East on a visit to their offshore sites in Trincomalee, in order to offer insight into Sri Lanka and South Asia’s first-ever commercial-scale oceanic barramundi farm, which enables Sri Lanka’s hotels to source sustainable ingredients and thereby enhance their sustainability standing.
Executive Chefs from Uga Escapes, Jetwing, Anantaya and Amaya hotels were given a personalized tour by Oceanpick Key Account Executive Shabir Ahamed. Consumers are increasingly demanding ethically-sourced ingredients in their food and Oceanpick’s fresh and sustainable seafood offers hotels the opportunity to cater just that.
Oceanpick’s objective is to uplift Sri Lanka’s fishery industry to new heights of sustainability by reducing reliance on dwindling natural marine resources. Its responsible farming produces high-quality seafood without compromising on taste. Cooking with sustainable ingredients is a growing trend globally and the palate for sustainable ingredients continues to widen in food and beverage applications the world over.
In the National Restaurant Association of US’ 2016 culinary forecast, sustainable seafood ranks ninth amongst the top 20 food trends. Globally, leading hotel chains such as Marriott and Hyatt hotels have adopted sustainable seafood programmes into their supply chain in response to environmental concerns. Oceanpick now offers Sri Lankan hotels the opportunity to adopt this global standard by supplying them with sustainable seafood to protect the island’s marine resources.
Uga Escapes Chef Holger Joost commented, “Trust in food sources is becoming increasingly important as customers demand to know the truth about where the food on their plate is coming from before they judge its quality. ‘Food Transparency’ is being embraced by sustainable hotel businesses. Having seen many salmon farms in Europe, one thing for sure is Oceanpick is on par.”
Jetwing Sunrise Chef Bandara added, “This is truly a revelation for us – to be able to present such a world-class ingredient produced right here in Sri Lanka is a very unique experience.”
The first phase of Oceanpick was completed with a US $ 4.5 million investment with a 400 MT production capacity, but the company anticipates doubling the capacity to 1,000 MT during this year and widening its portfolio to several other species besides barramundi. Many leading hotel and restaurant brands that value sustainability and premium ingredients have already adopted Oceanpick’s product into their menus and the footprint continues to grow as Oceanpick continues to set the benchmark for hygiene, freshness, sustainability and supremacy of taste.