Commodity Board Seeks to Educate Chef Audience about Authentic Mexican Shrimp
San Diego, CA — April 25, 2006 — Just as Hawaiian Pineapple, Russian Caviar and Colombian Coffee have topped their particular culinary categories, shrimp from Mexico are the latest gourmet foodstuff to be singled out for their bold, intense flavor and firm texture. Chefs say that the careful handling of Mexican Shrimp, from harvest to package, ensure an indulgent taste experience time after time.
Following a successful foodservice industry launch in 2004, the Mexican Shrimp Council is embarking on a chef-focused marketing campaign designed to appeal to chefs’ desire for natural, great-tasting ingredients. Top-of-the-line, origin-branded products like Authentic Mexican Shrimp provide chefs with a means for letting their customers know that it’s their priority to seek out and serve all-natural and sustainable food choices.
Based on the pivotal role that chefs play in introducing gourmet ingredients to other chefs, food lovers and home cooks, the Mexican Shrimp Council has developed a series of programs for this important audience. In addition to targeted advertising and public relations, the Council is organizing a set of creative events this summer including a seven-course, progressive Mexican Shrimp tasting for Southern California chefs at the Marine Room restaurant in San Diego, and a Naked Cocktail Party featuring ‘dressed down’ shrimp preparations and coinciding with the 2006 American Culinary Federation National Convention in Philadelphia.
“The Mexican Shrimp Council was based on a very simple idea: we produce the best shrimp in the world, and we want to tell people about it,” said Antonio Diaz, head of Ocean Garden Products, a founding member of the Mexican Shrimp Council and the leading U.S. importer of Authentic Mexican Shrimp.
With members from both Mexico and the U.S., the Council’s primary focus is to educate those who purchase shrimp, in particular the U.S. foodservice industry, about the many reasons why Mexican Shrimp as a premium product tastes better, is of the highest quality and is more satisfying to consumers.
“Whether wild-caught or farm-raised, Mexican shrimp grow up in some of the most beautiful places in the world, and that is why our shrimp is superior, offering consistently high-quality, sweet flavor and firm texture,” said Hugo Camou, president of the Mexican Shrimp Council.
“The Mexican shrimp industry has made an enormous effort to produce its products in a sustainable manner. Our aquaculture methods emphasize low-density ponds that minimize the impact on both the environment and the shrimp, and our wild-shrimp harvest is also environmentally sound, using techniques such as turtle excluder devices that make shrimp harvesting safe for other species,” continued Camou.
The Council is pleased to report that the 2006 campaign has the full support of SAGARPA, Mexico’s Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Nutrition.
Mexican Shrimp already enjoys a level of prestige among culinary connoisseurs and seafood specialists because of an idyllic habitat and the long-standing commitment of Mexican shrimp producers, processors and importers to optimum quality assurance from harvest to package.
The Mexican Shrimp Council is a group of producers, processors, suppliers and marketers working together to educate the foodservice industry and consumer audiences about the quality aspects and price-value relationship of Mexican Shrimp. For more information, please visit www.mexicanshrimp.org.
# # #
Contact:
Melissa Dennis, OutSmart
760-930-8973
melissa@teamoutsmart.com
Chef2Chef News Desk