Author: Jason Pride

It’s time for Hy-Vee’s annual crab and seafood sale, a tradition we’ve had for nine years. It’s the absolute best time of the year to pick up some of Alaska’s most prized and sustainable resources. All Wild Alaska crab sold by Hy-Vee is labeled with our Responsible Choice logo because Alaska crab fisheries are some of the best-managed wild fisheries in the world.

The tradition in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest is to always serve Wild Caught Alaska Seafood during the Holidays to honor the fishermen and women that risk their lives bringing the bounty of the sea to our tables.

Check out Hy-VeeDeals.com for details about this year’s featured items, which you’ll find in stores on through Hy-Vee Aisles Online grocery shopping service. This year may be different than the past, but we can still find reasons to celebrate. Happy Holidays!

On any given day, J.P.’s Shellfish offer a wide variety of the finest Atlantic fresh oysters available. Each day, they direct source no less than 15 different bed specific oysters from the nutrient rich waters of the North Atlantic.

Hy-Vee is featuring Barstool Cocktail Oysters, nicely cupped cocktail size (2.5” – 3”) oysters from the pristine waters of Rustico Bay, part of Prince Edward Islands’s legendary string of north coast oyster bays. Rustico is a tiny, picturesque lobstering town located along the north shore of Prince Edward Island. Its shells tend to be light in color with a crisp clean flavor that gives a brininess up front and a sweet finish.

There are a virtually infinite number of factors that affect the characteristics of an oyster.  These include, but are not limited to, such criteria as salinity, method of culture, seasonality, shell strength, meat fullness, size, etc.  Check out J.P.’s comprehensive SHELLFISH ASSESSMENT CHART for a more detailed qualitative and comparative analysis of each variety.

J.P.’s is very particular about which varieties of oysters they source. Their product is high-quality and a tremendous value. Hy-Vee is confident that you will appreciate these differences in availability, quality, shelf life, and the environmentally conscientious fashion in which J.P.’s oysters are grown and harvested. Plus, Hy-Vee’s onsite USDC Lot Inspector checks all incoming seafood to ensure freshness and quality before it goes home to your table.

Learn more at your Hy-Vee seafood counter today!

One of the most popular North Pacific ground fish, Alaska Cod is the highest-quality cod available. Harvested throughout the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, Alaska Cod is available fresh in the fall and winter, and frozen year-round.

Alaska has pioneered the standard for sustainable, eco-friendly fisheries. Alaska’s cod fisheries are Green rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, indicating that Alaska cod is a “Best Choice” for consumers to purchase because it’s from fisheries that are well managed and caught using methods that cause little harm to habitats and other wildlife. By proactively ensuring a healthy, wild and sustainable harvest, Alaska is protecting its superior seafood for future generations.

With a slightly sweet flavor and a moist, firm texture, Alaska Cod adapts easily to most cooking methods. It can be roasted, poached, steamed, sautéed or deep-fried for fish and chips. Alaska Cod is also perfectly complemented by a wide array of sauces, herbs, spices and coatings. It’s available in fillets and in portions. Alaska Cod can star on its own in the center of the plate, but it’s also excellent as an ingredient in salads, appetizers and chowders.

Visit your Hy-Vee seafood counter today and ask about wild Alaska Cod!

Hy-Vee – ranked 2^nd by Greenpeace – only works with top seafood suppliers. In April, Hy-Vee is featuring Rainforest Tilapia.

Rainforest Tilapia boasts some of the best tilapia stock in the world. Costa Rica’s immaculate natural environment combined with Oreochromis Niloticus, a choice Tilapia breed, creates a mild, pure flavor and thick, hearty fillets that stand fins and tails above the rest. Before each pond harvest, the fish are analyzed and taste-tested to assure the characteristic flavor clarity that makes Rainforest tilapia so exemplary, and thanks to our Genetic Improvement Program, only the best broodstock of Oreochromis are selected from each generation to breed, meaning the highest quality fish will always be sent to you.

Rainforest Tilapia can trace the entire life history of each fish in their care from farm, to processing plant, to market — seven generations back! Rainforest is unique amongst tilapia productions in that they own every step and stage of the production cycle. That means total quality control at every stage of a fish’s life, or “Total Traceability,” from farm to plate. Cook easy, knowing that each Rainforest fish is of the highest quality.

Rainforest Tilapia’s water source is at Lake Arenal, an eco-rich volcanic reservoir fed by natural water tributaries along Costa Rica’s tropical Atlantic Coast. By harnessing the power of Costa Rica’s moving falls, rivers, and streams, they raise tilapia in constantly flowing water, a unique breeding environment that gives their fish a rainforest-clean taste that must be experienced to believed.

Stop in your Hy-Vee seafood department today to pick up this delicious tilapia option.

To learn more about Rainforest Tilapia, visit https://www.tilapia.com/our-ethics .