Red's Best: From the Sea to Your Plate

While we may be back to seasonal temperatures after having been teased by summer weather a few weeks ago, one thing is certain: the summer fishing season is just around the corner. Winter's hold on the ocean waters has subsided and local fishermen are feverishly preparing their boats and crews for a return to the sea. What does this all mean for dining at Northeastern?

We are excited to announce our new partnership with Red's Best, an operations management company that works exclusively with local fishermen, that will bring seafood fresh from the local waters off the coast of New England. Red's Best innovative technology and logistics platform streamlines and accelerates seafood transactions, reducing costs and time between fishermen and consumers. In addition, by sourcing seafood from "day-boats" - boats that only go out for single-day trips - you know that the product has not been sitting in a boat's hold for a week before even being landed. Because of these factors, each catch is handled by less middlemen, thus reducing transaction costs, and drastically reduces the time between catching the fish to serving it on your plate.

Red's Best is also a technology-driven business and has embraced the opportunity to bring information to the buyers and consumers. Web-based software collects traceability data for all catches and generates unique web addresses accessible through scannable QR codes. The QR code that comes with each order allows instant access to related info about the fisherman, including vessel, gear type, and port of origin, as well as information about the species caught. Check out an example of the QR code system below:

We are very excited about bringing this new partnership to all of our residential dining halls on campus. Today marks the first shipment we received and we will be serving fish tacos for lunch at both International Village and Levine Marketplace featuring pollock caught off Georges Bank by the F/V Resolute (based out of New Bedford, MA) that landed Monday morning. Be on the lookout for more locally caught seafood in the dining halls as well as the information about where your food is coming from!