Get dinner on the table in a flash with quick-cooking seafood choices. In addition to weekly deals, we cut to order and offer great prices on frozen seafood year-round. Remember, fatty fish — like salmon — deliver the omega-3 fatty acids that everyone’s talking about!

If you’re fishing around for information on the seafood we sell, rest assured we’re navigating toward fully sustainable seafood departments. Our farmed seafood is raised responsibly, and we offer seafood from fisheries that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). We’ve also implemented a color-coded rating program that provides you with sustainability status information for all wild-caught seafood not certified by the MSC. This way, you can make fully informed choices.
 
After making your selection at the counter, try one of these simple suggestions at home:

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At Whole Foods Market®, we’ve got a wide range of stakeholders. These are the people who have an interest or an investment in what we do or sell. Most directly, we’ve got our customers, team members, suppliers and investors. Indirectly, our stakeholders also include members of the public who are watching and commenting (sometimes publically) on what we do, such as environmental and consumer groups. As Whole Foods Market continually works to be the leader in responsible sourcing of food and other products, our stakeholders challenge us to aim high. And this is a good thing! Simultaneously, we must consider all of our stakeholders’ points of view and balance these perspectives so that at the end of the day we have practical standards that the most motivated and innovative suppliers can meet and we have high-quality products to offer our customers.

So, what is a multi-stakeholder process, anyway? Essentially, it’s a forum for bringing different perspectives to the table. Let’s take a real life example. Right now we’re working on developing a new set of Seafood Quality Standards — our standards for farmed molluscs (a.k.a shellfish like clams, mussels and oysters). The process is well on its way and we aim to finish this spring. To create the standards, we studied the published science, visited farms from coast to coast, met with farmers and talked with many scientists to make sure we understood the issues. We also sought input from environmentalists. These discussions occurred during meetings, on the phone and over email. The process can occur in many ways! We’re also holding meetings with all of our supplier partners to review our draft standards point-by-point and get their feedback.

The first farmed mollusc supplier meeting took place January 10^th at our North Atlantic regional office and attendance was great. We hosted Whole Foods Market seafood buyers, representatives from our Quality Standards Team and Global Food Safety teams, and our consultant, Oceanographer Jon Grant from Dalhousie University in Canada. Almost twenty east coast growers participated in the meeting, hailing from Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, Canada.

Together with the growers, we reviewed the standards and had engaging discussions on a range of topics including what makes a production system aquaculture (vs. wild capture), disease prevention, standards for monitoring and preventing impacts to sediments under farms, harvesting, predator control and traceability. We received productive feedback and, fortunately, it looks like we’re on the right track with our standards.

Running a multi-stakeholder process is a lot of work, but it’s worth it in the end because when our stakeholders are involved in the process of developing standards, they’re invested in the outcome and can share in the success.

Look for more details on the farmed mollusc standards this spring!

What a catch! Today’s the day to buy Alaska wild-caught Sockeye salmon fillets for $7.99 per pound! Remember this sale is one day only, so make sure you stop by our stores in the US and Canada to get your salmon fix at a special sale price.

Availability and limits may vary by region, so you can contact your store for details. While supplies last. Most of our stores do not provide rain checks for sales like this.

Sockeye salmon is known for its full, rich flavor and bright red, firm texture. Purchased from fisheries that are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council and frozen at the peak of the season, the Sockeye fillets featured in today’s one day sale are truly a treat when it comes to quick, sensible meals.

Here are some tasty ways to enjoy salmon from today’s sale: Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the deal with dinner — cooking salmon is a slammin’ way to get food on the table if you’re in a rush. To catch your own deal on our Alaska wild-caught Sockeye salmon fillets for $7.99 per pound, stop by our stores in the US and Canada this Friday, January 20^th.

Availability and limits may vary by region, so you can contact your store for details. While supplies last. Most of our stores do not provide rain checks for sales like this.

Known for its full, rich flavor and bright red, firm texture, you can enjoy our wild-caught Alaska Sockeye salmon knowing that it’s from fisheries certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Our dedicated port buyers in Alaska form solid partnerships with fisheries known to use practices that promote sustainable, healthy oceans. The salmon is then frozen at the peak of the season so you can savor the wild-caught salmon flavor when you pick up some fillets during Friday’s sale. Read the rest of this entry »

After logging off my computer at the end of the workday, it’s usually a mad dash with a toddler at my toes until bedtime. I’m always looking for ways to save time and money on weeknight dinners without sacrificing quality and flavor. Our new frozen prepared seafood entrées fit the bill perfectly. No recipe (or skill) needed! You simply thaw the pre-marinated, seasoned or stuffed seafood (either overnight or while you are away during the day), cook and served with your favorite side.

Vacuum packed to ensure the height of freshness and to lock in flavor, options range from swordfish and salmon to crab cakes and cod. Frozen seafood means year-round availability of your seasonal favorites too. As always, our farmed seafood is raised responsibly, and we offer seafood choices from fisheries that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This way, you can feed your family fish that’s a healthy environmental choice, not to mention competitively priced, convenient and flavorful.

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We hope you enjoy this encore blog post about a wonderful Christmas tradition.

Christmas Eve means a lot of things to different people, but to those of us who celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), it’s always meant fresh, delicious seafood (and maybe an early present or two). The Seven Fishes is an Italian tradition of serving seven courses (or more!) of fish and seafood on Christmas Eve. It is said to have begun in early Roman Catholic days when the tradition of abstinence from meat and milk products was strong. Also known as La Vigilia, or the vigil, the Seven Fishes is a celebration and a commemoration as we wait for midnight and Christmas Day.

Originating in Southern Italy, Seven Fishes is now celebrated mainly in the U.S. and has been adopted by a variety of cultures. If you want to give it a try this year, our seafood departments really shine when it comes to the diverse dishes presented for the Seven Fishes celebration. It’s a lot of food, but spread over the whole night it keeps everyone happy and full.

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Elaborate meals, intricate recipes and high expectations abound during the holidays. So it’s during this time of the year that I really appreciate cooking with seafood. Thank goodness there’s something that is simple to prepare but impresses nonetheless.

One of the best things about cooking seafood is its versatility — it can be grilled, broiled, poached, baked or cooked in a pan. If you’re facing fish with trepidation, fear not! Seafood is actually one of the easiest ingredients to cook with and can be one of the fastest to prepare.

Whether you’re looking to serve exciting flavors on a big night or simply want a tasty meal with little fanfare, here are a few of our favorite seafood recipes for every occasion:

Appetizers

With recipes that accommodate a sit-down feast or a cocktail fête, seafood is a delicious way to kick off your gathering.

Soups and Salads

Served as sides or even as entrées, these dishes make a great impression either way.

Main Dishes

Dinner for 8? Table for two? Seafood as a main course doesn’t disappoint.

What about you? What’s your go-to seafood dish this season?

Did you know that the pilgrims ate shrimp and other seafood at the first Thanksgiving? So when the “day formerly known as turkey day” rolls around, we want you to know what sets our shrimp apart from the rest. Whether farm raised or wild caught, you can always appreciate what our shrimp has—and doesn’t have. Happy Shrimpsgiving!

Here’s the story on our farmed shrimp:

Our seafood buyers have traveled to shrimp farms around the world to find producers that meet our strict standards for protecting the environment. From protecting sensitive ecosystems like mangrove forests to maintaining good water quality, our farmer partners are working hard to be the leaders in environmentally responsible aquaculture. We track our farm-raised shrimp from pond to processing to stores to make sure it comes from approved farms. To maintain the delicious flavor of shrimp and nothing else, ours are flash frozen within hours of harvest — without preservatives. Some competitors may sell farmed shrimp cheaper, but it’s likely chemically treated. Make sure you look for the Responsibly Farmed label that indicates the shrimp has been farmed according to our strict Aquaculture Standards and third-party audited to ensure that the standards are being met.

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The last few years have been busy ones for the Seafood Quality Standards team at Whole Foods Market. We implemented new aquaculture standards for farmed finfish and shrimp and we launched our wild species ranking program — making our seafood cases more colorful and rich with information. Now the wild-caught seafood in our fresh cases carry either the MSC-certified label to indicate the seafood is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, or if it’s not certified, the color-coded sustainability status rankings by partnering organizations, Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium. Our farmed finfish and shrimp carry our Responsibly Farmed logo, indicating that the farms have been third-party audited to ensure that our strict aquaculture standards are being met.

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Catch a deal on wild-caught Atlantic white shrimp today, October 14, for $7.99 per pound. It’s a one day only sale so make sure you stop by today! (Some stores may have a 10-pound limit.)

Available for a limited time in the fall, these 26/30 (large) raw, shell-on shrimp are caught by US shrimpers at the peak of the season and are frozen within hours of catching to lock in their fresh taste. We don’t allow sulfites and phosphate preservatives so you can enjoy the naturally sweet taste of the shrimp.

Here are some of my favorite shrimp recipes:

Find more recipes for shrimp here. What will you do with today’s great shrimp catch? Remember, this sale on USA wild-caught Atlantic white shrimp for $7.99 per pound is today only, so come to pick up what’s considered the best-kept secret in seafood!