July 1, 2009 Market Report
After a bit of a hiatus visiting the great seafood state of Alaska, your market report team is happy to be back at work! Check out some video of the visit on our YouTube account, and photos on our Facebook page)…while you’re at it, don’t forget our Twitter feed, and we have some awesome Webkins for you to enjoy as well.
Speaking of Alaska, we’re bringing in a nice selection of wild salmon, including some fresh keta from the mighty Yukon River. There will not be a commercial king salmon opener this year, so take advantage of this limited opportunity to enjoy some great fish (with amazing Omega-3 levels) and help support small family fishermen. Here’s some extra-curricular reading on the situation along the Yukon, if you’re interested.
We also have some sockeye from Main Bay, AK, plenty of beautiful fresh halibut and black cod due in for the weekend.
A limited amount of king salmon (including some ivories) from the Columbia River - available today, call now it will go fast! Also from the Pacific, nice pricing on cod and rockfish.
Our farmed salmon selection remains varied - Canadian, Faroe Island, Chilean and Norwegian options all in the house - ready for your weekend order in a variety of sizes (and don’t forget about our huge smoked salmon - and other seafood - selection too)!
Supply out of the East Coast remains mostly steady - cod, monk, skate in the house. We are seeing some sourcing issues on fluke, sole, pollock and wild striped bass - please check in with your sales rep on those options.
Plenty live lobsters in the house, in all sizes. Price is steady but we expect to see it climb slightly into next week. We have fresh crabmeat (peeky toe and jonah) on hand.
Shellfish inventory is strong - lots of beautiful oysters from both coasts (why not celebrate Canada Day with some Prince Edward Island selections?) and a full slate of mussels and clams. Plenty of beautiful scallops in the house in 8 and 4 lb. containers - whichever suits your mood!
For your weekend 4th of July Specials choose from big (8 and up) American red snapper, ono, opah, barramundi, Tasmanian ocean trout, white sea bass mahi mahi or fresh marlin.
If you’re looking for an easy and fresh way to add some selections to your summer party or catering menus, don’t forget that we roll sushi here at Plitt, 6 days a week! We offer a full selection of maki and nigiri - any of which tastes great paired with one of our ready-to-eat seaweed salads. Ask your sales rep. for more details.
A reminder that we will be CLOSED on Saturday in honor of the 4th of July holiday - so please order up for Friday delivery. We’ll be shutting down the phones early on Friday to get a jump on things - please plan ahead. If you’re in a real pickle, we will be offering emergency delivery on Sunday - just call - and we’ll resume regular business hours on Monday!
Have a great holiday weekend!!
May 27, 2009 Market Report
Walleye is a bit of a challenge right now as fishermen juggle to manage reduced quotas and switch gear over for yellow perch. We have walleye, but supply is rocky and price will be up. Other Great Lakes favorites are in good shape - whitefish, perch, smelt and lake trout are all in the house.
Fishing continues in earnest all around Prince William Sound - we’re seeing mostly sockeye from our team in Cordova, a few kings but we hope those numbers will improve over the next week or so. We have a few ivories available from the Taku River - call now if you want them, and some kings from the Columbia River - also limited. Plenty of halibut coming in, good prices on fish of all sizes. Fresh black cod is also available.
Sword market is in great shape right now - if you’ve been thinking about a swordfish feature - this weekend is it!! Tuna market is steady.
We have good numbers on grouper, snapper, mahi mahi - plenty of fish in the house and prices are steady.
Softshells continue to move in and out of our cooler at a brisk pace - price is up a bit, but availability is decent. Call now to pre-order for the weekend.
Opah, ono, white sea bass, parrotfish, dorade, bronzini - either in the house or en route for your weekend specials menu!
East Coast prices remain a bit high; monkfish, skate, sole, cod, arctic turbot, jumbo fluke and a bit of pollock. Not a lot of striped bass on the market; we’ll see some improvement with fish coming out of Rhode Island and Virginia towards the middle of June. We have good lobster numbers, and plenty of fresh crab on hand.
Farmed salmon is going to return to headache status as we move into the weekend…lousy weather in Canada hampering harvests, striking workers in Chile, and limited shipping out of the Faroe Islands is going to have some repercussions on weekend inventory. Please contact your Plitt rep to get the full sc
oop and make sure your order gets filled.
Warm summertime weather is right around the corner (knock on wood!) and late spring/early summer is the perfect time to get some ceviche on your menu! Bay scallops are a great choice for any style of ceviche - as are shrimp, squid, octopus and a variety of finfish like tuna, halibut, white sea bass or marlin…ask your sales rep for more ideas!
What could be more refreshing than some ice cold oysters on the half shell? Excellent selection this week from both coasts; Blue Points, Cape Turners, Courtin Islands, Graham Points, Malpeques, Orwell Bays, Rocky Points, Sailor Girls, Wellfleets, Point Pontipees, Liar’s Bays, Malaspinas, Virginicas, Chef Creeks, Cortez Islands, Evening Coves, Twilight Stars and more! Don’t forget about our pre-order option, unique European style Cranberry Flats - we can get our hands on these quickly and easily - we just need a bit of lead time; call today! Speaking of shellfish pre-orders, don’t forget abou
t asking after razor clams, cockles and other specialty items!
Blackhawks vs. Redwings tonight - we service both markets so it's tough to pick a favorite - but since this company depends on our buying team who are all die-hard Hawks fans, we’ll be cheering for Chicago tonight! GO HAWKS!
May 20, 2009 Market Report
Reminder that we are CLOSED on Monday, May 25th in honor of Memorial Day! Please plan ahead as the weekend approaches…
Memorial Day is a perfect opportunity to try some of our hand crafted salmon burgers! These tasty 4 oz. patties are available in 3 great flavors - Classic, Spinach Feta, or Chipotle and cook up perfect on the grill from frozen! It couldn't be any easier to offer your customers a fun, summer burger option. Order a case today!
As you know we’ve had a couple of openers on the Copper River so far this year, with sockeyes far outweighing kings…we have fish due in for Thursday delivery, along with a bit of Taku River fish. Halibut numbers are great right now, and we also have AK black cod in the house. All this tasty wild fish comes with The Marine Stewardship Council’s assurance of sustainability!
We have a bit of a supply issue on the Faroe Island Salmon - We will be out of product until next Tuesday, but expect a good amount of fish arriving for early next week. The rest of the salmon market looks steady.
Both whole cod and market cod fillets are priced almost out of reach, fish is extremely limited. If you are hearing cheaper numbers elsewhere please be careful that you are not getting refreshed product. We have monk, skate, lemon sole, and beautiful jumbo fluke out of Rhode Island in the house. Also out of Rhode Island - a bit of black bass due in for Friday - call today if you want it! We also have a little bit of 2/4 lb. wild striped bass due in tomorrow, again call now if you want it, there isn’t much product on the market.
Plenty of nice scallops in the house - both dry and processed looking good for the weekend, plenty of fresh crabmeat on hand. All East coast shellfish options are in great shape, plenty of nice oysters on hand, lively lobsters, mussels, etc.
Great Lakes continue to deliver a wonderful selection of high quality fish - whitefish, walleye, smelts, yellow perch and lake trout. We’re also smoking plenty of whitefish and trout - great for your summer menu!
For your specials board this weekend - big true American red snappers due in, a bit of fresh marlin, good availability on mahi mahi, nice barramundi, Tasmanian ocean trout, bluefish, jumbo tautog, yellow edge grouper, cobia and white sea bass…
Softshells continuing to star on menus all around the Midwest - no matter how you prepare them your customers are going crazy for this seasonal best seller! The best way to guarantee delivery is by pre-ordering, or setting up a standing order with your Plitt rep. Keeping inventory tight assures everyone of the best quality crabs in town!
Rushing Waters is producing some beautiful rainbow trout - one of our favorite, low impact and local fish! We have a great selection of other aquaculture options for your menu - farmed striped bass, tilapia, imported Mediterranean sea bass, ruby red trout, sturgeon, Arctic char and more!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
May 13, 2009 Market Report
Imagine the flurry of activity taking place right now in the little town of Cordova as fishermen get ready to head out for tomorrow’s Copper River opener…Rumor has it that even Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl will be putting on a pair of Xtra Tufs and hanging out with friend and salmon marketer extraordinaire Jon Rowley to film an episode of a new series called “Whisked Away” out on the flats. It’s always a mad scramble for those first fish; here’s hoping Mike and the guys have a great day out there tomorrow. We’ll let you know what we’re expecting as soon as we can.
Taku and Stikine Rivers are also open, we’re working hard to increase our allocation of this fish - cross your fingers for a Friday delivery, check in with your rep.
Halibut takes a backseat for a few days as we all go salmon-crazy - but we have plenty of beautiful fish (including cheeks), and black cod in the house as well.
Also from our friends on the West coast plenty of Pacific cod, rockfish and Dover, and a bit of white sea bass.
Soft shell crab availability is good - just plan ahead to help us out with keeping our inventory tight.
Boats are still tied up along the Atlantic; fish is a bit tight and pricey. We have cod, monk, skate (steady), sole (best EC value), turbot (down a tad), jumbo fluke (very limited), black bass (also limited). Scallop supply is good (half and full gallons), plenty of fresh crab meat
Skate wing - perfect for a hockey crazed Chicago restaurant scene (and hopefully Detroit too)! Two words that you usually hear associated with this great fish “delicious” and “underutilized”…lets change that second one! Cook it on the bone, go classic with capers and brown butter, pair it up with local spring veggies, your customers will love it!
Most Canadian farmed salmon is running on the smaller side as farms move into harvesting a new year class; we have some big fish but you’ll pay for it. Plenty of Norwegian salmon in the house, along with gorgeous Faroe Island product. Chilean numbers also look good.
Plenty of oysters in the house, good selection of mussels and clams, plenty of lobsters of all sizes (chicks up to 4 -6’s).
Great Lakes supply is strong - enjoy the usual suspects, fantastic spring quality! Lake trout, whitefish, walleye, smelt and perch…would you like to take a trip up to the historic Purdy Family fishery on the shore of Lake Huron? We’re contemplating a trip; email me back if you’re interested…
True American red snapper is available, we are always glad to offer this wonderful domestic fish that is beginning a strong recovery. If you are interested in learning more about the Gulf Snapper situation, join the EDF, Ocean Conservancy and others at the Shedd Aquarium on June 15th where you can meet with members of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance. Call Kassia at the Shedd for more information on this great event (312) 692-2728.
We have a good amount of Mahi mahi, fresh bluefish, jumbo tautog out of Rhode Island, pompano, barramundi, grey tilefish Tasmanian ocean trout, and trigger, in the house and some yellowedge grouper due in for the weekend.
Busy, busy weekend as the NRA show opens on Saturday - customers are pulling out all the stops! We’re looking forward to a full roster of events; one of our favorites is the CIA alumni event at the Union League Club on Monday night! If you are at the show on Monday - stop by a great panel discussion on aquaculture sponsored by Seafood Choices Alliance at 10:00 AM and say hi!
May 06, 2009 Market Report
Mother’s Day is this Sunday! A great time of year to show moms you care by serving up a wonderful selection of healthy and delicious seafood…Get those big orders in today - its bound to be a busy weekend, planning ahead will make everyone happy. And here's to a happy day to all you mothers out there from all of us at Plitt!
Delaware’s wild striped bass season is closed and although Virginia’s season is open, fishermen don’t want to use their tags for smaller fish. That means we’ll have really limited supplies of wild stripers (although they’ll be on the larger side) from now until June – please check in with your sales rep for exact numbers. Don’t forget we stock consistently beautiful farmed hybrid bass - this is a great fish for many applications.
The rest of the fisheries along the East Coast are in good shape – plenty of monkfish, sole, skate, cod, haddock, pollock, arctic turbot, fresh crab meat, bluefish, softshell crabs, oysters, mussels, scallops, lobsters, clams…a little bit of black bass too - but call now it will fly out of here…
Florida stone crab claw season is wrapping up – hope you enjoyed the season as much as we did! Plenty of other delicious crab options on hand from around the world – king crab legs, snow crab, Dungeness, blue crab, jonah, peeky toe…
Mike Poole has the F/V Gussie in the water and is ready to WORK! The 2009 Copper River wild salmon season opens on May 14th for a fast and furious 12 hours – how much fish can our boys catch? Find out soon! If you want fish from this first opener you should send your Plitt Rep some high quality chocolate, autographed Paul Konerko memorabilia, Hooters gift cards or a bottle of Grey Goose (depending on your rep). Or, at least call and let them know you are interested…we have a good Alaskan salmon gillnetting video (and a short one of Ashton Poole at work) on our YouTube page check it out right here.
Elsewhere in Alaska, halibut fishermen are hard at work – lots of beautiful fish on hand; including cheeks…we also have black cod in the house.
Nice selection from the Pacific - West Coast Dover sole, pacific cod and rockfish, plenty of nice oysters (including plenty of Shigokus - great weekend to add them to your inventory).
Barramundi, corvina, sturgeon, triggerfish, rainbow trout, cobia, ivory king salmon, pompano, tilefish - lots of nice super fresh fish (farmed and wild) to add to your specials board starting today!
Tuna market is steady - lots of nice fish in the house. Plenty of swordfish - price is up a bit on larger fish, steady on pups.
We LOVE when we can say All Systems Go in the Great Lakes! Order up on absolutely gorgeous whitefish, walleye, yellow perch, lake trout and smelts and pair up these semi-local options with spring’s produce bounty - morels, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns…
So far spring has been busy for Team Plitt – lots of great events coming up (and lots in the history books already this year!) We’re psyched to be helping the Chicago Firehouse with their Wednesday oyster events on the patio (join us from 4:00 to 6:00 pm), The Green City Market is open, we’re heading to Milwaukee on Saturday to celebrate the Grand Opening of Molly Cool’s, and next week has us all over the state promoting wild Alaskan salmon, returning just in time to go crazy for the NRA show!! Hit up our homepage for all seafood skinny at this year’s event…or visit our events page to keep up on all the goings on around town.
April 29, 2009 Market Report
Steady supply of our traditional East Coast offerings; whole large cod (price down a bit), market cod fillets, whole monk and fillets, skate, lemon sole, Artic turbot, some cherry jumbo fluke, and a lil’ bit of wild striped bass out of Delaware. Nice fresh crab meat selections - Peeky Toe combo and leg meat, and sweet, sweet Jonah in the house. Shellfish selection out of the Atlantic is also good - plenty of mussels, clams and a interesting variety of oysters. We’re continuing to get rave reviews on our 1/2 gallons of Sailor Girl scallops - if the full gallon seems intimidating, try this convenient option today!
We don’t want to sound like a broken record here (broken CD? Damaged MP3 player? You know what I mean) but farmed salmon remains touch and go…our buyer is breaking his back to keep our selection strong, but there are sourcing issues out of his control - your best bet is to have a heart-to-heart with your sales representative heading into the weekend to make sure you’re on top of things. We have good amounts of fish in the house and inbound for the weekend (including Faroe Islands salmon), but it doesn’t hurt to call.
Soft shells are a bit of a challenge as the weekend approaches - it’s still early in the season so availability is definitely being impacted by water temps…we’re hoping supply will improve into the early part of next week, but it may take another week to 10 days for things to really even out.
Nice farmed sturgeon in the house - this aquaculture superstar brings an interesting spring twist to your menu. Firm and rich meat makes sturgeon a great choice for grilling, but no matter how you cook it think about finishing your dish with some farmed sturgeon caviar from Tsar Nicoulai! We have the fish and the roe, call now!
Great Lakes a little tight on larger fish but mostly we’re in good shape. Plenty of pike, whitefish, lake trout, smelt and tasty yellow perch and even a little bit of fresh white perch on hand!
Cobia harvests are limited right now - but could increase if ya’ll want to join us in celebrating this great fish! Cobia’s popularity is continuing to rise, both among restaurants and retailers, as well as creating a lot of buzz in the seafood world. Check out this article in Fortune Small Business magazine about Ocean Blue Sea Farms and learn about one of the neatest (yeah, I said neatest) people in the industry that we’ve had the chance to meet…we have beautiful fish in the house, and will continue to bring these little beauties in for you to enjoy.
Wild AK Halibut supply is steady (we got a bit shorted on cheeks, call now if you want in on what we’ve got), prices looking pretty darn good at this point! We have nice king salmon available - get it now! AK winter season closes in a couple of days, so we’ll head into some dreary, wild AK salmonless days until Copper River opens in mid-May. Sign up for our twitter updates and be the first to know when the season opens!!
Barramundi - what’s not to love!! Moist and delicate meat with a delicious rich and buttery flavor, this Australian expat is just the thing for your spring menu…pair it up with some tasty littleneck clams or sweet and tasty rock shrimp, serve it roasted with risotto or grilled on top of a salad featuring fresh spring vegetables!
Plenty of nice specials hanging out in the VIP room; get your hands on some opah, Tasmanian ocean trout, John Dory, fresh redfish, golden tilefish (nice and big), rockfish, WC Dover and more!
Don't forget to check out our special order items list - just to remind yourself of all the great seafood options that are available to you even if they don't sit on our daily inventory...plenty of wonderful menu choices there that just require a bit of planning ahead. Work with your sales rep to set up a weekly reminder call!
And speaking of reminders - Mother's Day is right around the corner! Get on the horn with your Plitt rep this week and place those huge lobster tail, sushi platter and king crab leg orders early. Thanks!
Go Bulls! Go Hawks! Have a great weekend, everyone!
Aprl 15, 2009 Market Report
Super fresh walleye, whitefish, yellow lake perch, smelt, lake trout – the bounty of the Great Lakes is really something you ought to be taking advantage of right now! Get at least one of these freshwater faves on your menu right now while their quality is stellar and prices are steady or creeping down.