Demand for seafood keeps growing as customers perceive it as a lighter menu choice

Given an abundance of supply at competitive prices, it’s no surprise that seafood remains one of foodservice’s most popular menu drawcards, reaching its peak during our long hot summers.

At iconic gastro pub Oxford 152, situated in the heart of fashionable Bulimba in Brisbane, seafood is a massive part on the menu, with most of it freshly prepared from scratch by head chef Ric Aguilera and his team. “Bulimba is an up and coming area and the restaurants here are pretty smart, which keeps us on our toes,” Ric tells us. “We do a good range of food which is a step up from regular pub grub and we’re always seeking to broaden our horizons. My team hails from all over the world and they’re great to work with – I can’t take credit for all the food we put out, because I learn as much from them as they do from me. The dishes we create come from all of us rather than any one particular person. We try to focus on creativity and the management seem to trust us and not keep us bound by too many rules, which keeps everyone motivated.”

Ric attributes the local demand for seafood to the Queensland climate and fact that Bulimba is situated on the Brisbane river – “We’re a three to four minute walk from the river and there’s a lot of residential down there, and it just seems the case that when you live by the water you want to eat seafood. I think it’s also partly a health-conscious decision, in that people are looking to cut down on their red meat intake and seafood is seen as a lighter choice.

“I’ve been here for three years and the local demand for seafood just keeps growing, so I keep adding more to the menu. It’s definitely easier to source great quality seafood that it used to be – our suppliers are broadening their horizons, which makes it easier for us. Back in the old days you’d have to go far and wide to get particular species but now our regular suppliers carry them. Our barramundi is definitely our biggest seller – it’s such a good quality product and you can see that by the way it stays moist while you’re cooking it. When you buy good quality seafood it’s easy to cook and hard to mess up!”

A close second in demand behind the barra is salmon, and Ric says the team will often throw in some snapper on the menu. “Sometimes we might get some sweetlip or black rockcod, it depends on what our suppliers are stocking – we get a report every week updating us on what’s coming in. Fish of the Day is our most popular seafood dish and I change it three to four times a week to keep it fresh – not just the fish itself but the sides as well. Our customers seem to love classic French cuisine, so sauces like Hollandaise, Beurre Blanc and Veloute go great guns – whenever I pair them with seafood on the menu it goes off the charts!”

The pub also serves oysters from Coffin Bay in South Australia which have been locally shucked and giant king prawns from Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. “There’s a fair bit of regional variation in Aussie seafood,” Ric explains, “and I find the Coffin Bay oysters have a cleaner taste than Sydney rock oysters. We just try to go with what’s the best fit for our customers and our menu.”

And of course fish and chips is always a classic pub meal. “We use barra for that once again, and we make up the batter every couple of days. I use a Pale Ale for that, I go over to the bowsers for it … but I don’t think the venue manager knows!”

Presentation style is in keeping with the pub’s stylish image and clientele. “Especially with our Fish of the Day we’re focused on the design element – seafood has so many great colours to start with, and the more you highlight those, the healthier and fresher it looks and the more it entices people. Sometimes we’ll get some salmon caviar and add those pearls of pink through the plate, which looks absolutely sensational.” For fish and chips, a nice crunchy batter akin to that of an upmarket fish and chip shop is the order of the day.

With Christmas approaching, Ric says the pub normally does a full seafood buffet – “we were seating about 300-350 but we’ll have to see where we can go with things given whatever restrictions we’re operating under at the time. But we’ve decided we’re still doing it in some form or other, which is great. Seafood is a huge part of end of year functions and we want to be able to keep offering that to our customers.”

Luckily the pub has plenty of al fresco dining areas – “the bar itself is quite open, we have big roller doors that come all the way up so even when you’re eating in the bar it feels like you’re outside, and again that may explain why we sell so much seafood here,” Ric adds. “And we’ve now introduced the Me&U smart ordering system, which allows customers to order from their phones and saves us having to hand out menus, and that’s working well for us. We’re at one person per two square metres right now, but as we’re quite a large venue to start with we’re currently at half capacity.”

Sustainable sourcing and provenance a menu talking point

Seafood suppliers and foodservice outlets alike are increasingly focused on capitalising upon the growing consumer expectation that seafood should be sustainably sourced. In line with this, the provenance of the seafood you serve has become both a talking point when presenting your menu to customers and a marketing tool to differentiate your food from that of the competition.

“The expectation from consumers is that you’ll be aware of where your seafood has been sourced and they’ll happily quiz you about it,” points out David White, Executive Chef at Simplot Australia which markets an extensive range of seafood under the I&J and Captains Catch brands. “Today’s customers are much more willing to challenge chefs and business owners and if you can’t provide an answer, you can expect to be called out on social media. We’ve all seen instances where a foodservice business gets a bad rap because they’re not able to quantify where their seafood is from.

“At Simplot we made the call early on to focus on sustainability and provenance through our use of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification as an endorsement, when at the time there was some debate out in the industry about whether this kind of investment was worthwhile. But I think there’s no doubt about that now, because when you have it on your packaging, it does provide a recognition that you as a supplier are committed to sustainability, so in that respect we were ahead of the curve.”

A major focus for largescale seafood suppliers is to ensure a comprehensive range which seeks to meet the needs of most foodservice establishments across multiple pricepoints and menu styles – hence Simplot Australia’s differentiation of its range across two brands. “Our aim is to ensure that whatever your needs, we’ve got them covered – from our Captain’s Catch range of everyday, solid performers that won’t let you down, all the way up to I&J products like premium hand dipped flathead fillets that present as if they’ve been scratch-prepared,” David says.

Another key trend is the rise of value added seafood product which has been developed to meet the evolving needs of the foodservice market – with an emphasis on the burgeoning home delivery sector.  “Over the past 18 months there’s been a sharp increase in demand for products which will hold up over the delivery process – you need food that will withstand the rigours of transport from your establishment to people’s homes and reach them in good condition,” David points out. “This is where the superior batters and crumbs that we’ve developed for our I&J value added seafood products hold up extremely well, and give restaurateurs and chefs confidence that their food will maintain its presentation and taste.

Species-specific differentiation set to play a major role

“Our focus as a major seafood supplier is always to stay one step ahead, and we certainly don’t see delivery going away – even post-lockdowns it will continue to grow, so if your business can deliver a product that’s better than the competition you’re on a winner.

“It’s also important to choose the right packaging that’s going to allow your product to breathe and not become soggy, that will protect its shape and presentation – you can have the world’s tastiest seafood batter but if you stick it in a poor quality delivery package it won’t necessarily hold up. So you need to be looking at a combination of good quality product and sensible, fit for purpose packaging.”

Looking to the future, David says species-specific differentiation is likely to play an increased role, in line with the greater consumer education mentioned earlier. “Again, we try to be ahead of the curve – whereas some of our competitors may use a generic product description like ‘white fish’, we’ve made a conscious decision to list the species, be it hoki or hake or whiting, because we understand that it’s important for foodservice professionals and their customers to know what they’re getting.

“That gives the chef the opportunity to make a call out on the menu, given the customer wants to be informed about what they’re doing. It sounds so much better to say ‘Southern Blue Whiting sourced from New Zealand’ than ‘fish in batter’. In other words, the provenance of your seafood tells a story, and the clever establishments are picking up on this. It’s about giving the customer a sense of authenticity in what you serve rather than relying on a descriptor that’s generic.”