Cover Seafood distributor Cold Storage Seafood teams up with Save Philippine Seas to launch their new initiative, Gen Sea
Seafood distributor Cold Storage Seafood teams up with Save Philippine Seas to launch their new initiative, Gen Sea
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Seafood distributor Cold Storage Seafood teams up with Save Philippine Seas to launch their new initiative, Gen Sea. Together with Manila’s most celebrated chefs and staunchest sustainability allies, they discussed and shared how we can do our part to help
For Cold Storage Seafood (CSS) president Marco Qua, the message is simple and direct: “If we’re benefitting from it, we must do our best to protect it.” The family-owned premium seafood provider has been an industry leader for almost three decades, recently launching their Lokal line of export-quality seafood sourced from different regions of the Philippines. Proving that there is action behind their rhetoric, Marco, with his brother, Morris Qua, has recently partnered with the non-profit organisation Save Philippine Seas (SPS) to help promote this collaborative effort, which aims to build a community and platform for like-minded leaders dedicated to shaping the future of our oceans.
The “GenSea: Dive into Sustainability” campaign was launched recently at a luncheon in Manila House, highlighted by a panel discussion hosted by popular food personality and author Angelo Comsti. The stellar line-up was composed of some of the country’s most respected chefs who view sustainability as an integral part of their business and not merely a marketing buzzword— Stephan Duhesme (Metiz/Automat); Jayjay and Rhea SyCip (The Fatted Calf/Flourpot Manila); Patrick Go (Your Local/Gochugang/Lanai by FreshStart); Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar (Restaurant Aurora).
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SPS was represented by their project manager Harvey Perello, who shared that even through some simple awareness of sustainable practices, the small adjustments we make can spell the difference in keeping our seas bountiful while also supporting the communities that rely on them. He also pointed out how chefs play a crucial role in promoting sustainability in the seafood industry. “When you prioritise sustainable choices, you allow those choices to be enjoyed by your consumers,” he explains.
The panel discussion was highly informative, followed by a spirited Q and A with the audience composed of media friends, VIP guests, and trade partners. Comsti asked the panel what are some of the practices they apply in their restaurants for them to be considered “sustainable.” Chefs Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar are quite strict—almost nerdy—about their zero waste policy, utilising as much vegetable and animal trimmings as possible in their menu. Chef Patrick Go agrees, saying that while it is exciting to come up with new dishes, they always have to be mindful of how much waste they accumulate. “Actually, it’s quite exciting to see waste sometimes because it poses a new challenge to do something creative and delicious with it,” Go admits.
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Sustainable practices are not only applied to their inventory but to other resources in the business, including people. Chef Stephan Duhesme talks about how to maximise the staff, not only through proper training but also by picking the right team members to begin with. For his restaurants, he opts to have a smaller team, but this ultimately means that each of them can earn more. “It means that everyone has to work a bit harder, but at least everyone is making more and thriving,” Duhesme points out. “Everyone needs to commit, so this means that it’s also about choosing the right shareholders.”
Chef Rhea Sycip concurs that everyone has to be on board and that the team just has to “make that decision to go for it.” She and her husband Jayjay shared that the decision to open The Fatted Calf stems from their desire to work directly with farmers. “We use a lot of strawberries (for Flour Pot), and we realised that farmers make so little,” she says. “At the time, it was P10 for every P100 per kilo. This is clearly not sustainable because this kind of business is eventually going to discourage farmers since they barely earn for all the effort they make. So, as chefs, I learned that we need to be fair.”
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This is only the first of many events the Gen Sea campaign promises to spearhead to create more awareness for SPS’s projects and raise more funds for the organisation. The campaign also aims to engage with F&B professionals and influential individuals to amplify its reach and impact.
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Jaclyn Clemente Koppe is a food and lifestyle writer, as well as a consultant to some of the country’s beloved food and beverage brands. Her passion for food and drink is only surpassed by her devotion to her family, most especially to her soulmate, Pepa the poodle.
