Regional Shipping Small World Seafood Update

HOW IT WORKS

Hello, Everybody! I am secretly thrilled to start doing this shipping within 20 miles. I am kind of nervous and excited, really. Butterflies. And I know some of you are too. I also know some of you may be a bit outside the zone but we will figure that out.

So, first of all, I want to explain how this will work in a little more detail. Every weekend, I will put out an order form that you will receive by email at 11am on Saturday morning. You will have until Sunday night at 8pm to order. You may not have the exact same items available to you that the city is getting that week but you will over time. Don't wait til the last minute to order because some items may sell out and then you'll collapse to your knees, thrust your arms in the air and curse the gods. And you don't want to hurt your knees...

Now, as for the products. Well the first challenge to doing this at all really has to do with shipping fresh fish. I mean, you have to pack it in a certain way, you have to deliver it in a certain time and you have to trust that the delivery service can do it at a cost that is not obscene. In the city, we control the whole process so we feel good about it.

I could never really wrap my head around the belief that this can truly be done right shipping that way out to you. Besides, with a $25 flat fee, you would feel the need to order a lot of stuff to spread out the extra cost and then would have to freeze a lot of stuff. Or what if a delivery car breaks down? Or what if you are not home for another hour or two and the package is on your porch? You know? My mind, boy...

About a year ago, we invested in a couple of pieces of equipment that we thought could help mitigate this problem. After a lot of research, I selected a commercial blast freezer (also called a shock freezer) and a vacuum packing machine. The blast freezer can take fish down to -35F within an hour using an algorithmic sequencing that causes water to freeze extremely quickly and evenly. What results is micro-crystallization of water molecules instead of macro. Why this matters is that when water freezes slowly, the molecules will bind to each other in blocks and expand cell membranes. When you thaw the meat, the ice turns into water but the cell membranes collapse purging the water in the cells. The meat collapses. Seen this before? Yeah. Even commercial frozen product can be frozen poorly. Actually, a lot of it is. Why? Because it's cheaper. They suck..

Another thing about freezing fish. Fish is a constantly decomposing product. It's not like produce. It won't ripen and be better in a few days. You can take an old black banana and make banana bread but there is nothing you can do with old fish. Freezing older fish doesn't make it preserve it. You need to freeze very fresh fish in order to preserve its freshness. It sounds so silly and obvious but that's how it goes.

Well, after a year of testing and gifting and thawing and testing and cooking and so on, we feel great about it. Actually, we feel like we nailed it. The fish looks amazing. Even in the package. You'll see.

Lastly, we will vac pack the fish in 2lb portions where you can separate a piece at a time or in combos that make sense for smaller portioning such as two rainbow trouts or two bronzini per pack. Stuck the stuff in your freezer and thaw out when you are ready. The best way to thaw out is in your fridge overnight with the pack open or you can run under cold water for 10-20 minutes depending on the product. Make sure it s cold water. You do not want to cook the fish in the bag.

So, the delivery itself. On the very following Tuesday, we will pack up each order and have our partner, Roadie, deliver the package directly to you within two hours. That's their guarantee. With many of the products being frozen and in a thermal bag (which is reusable), even the non-frozen items such as whitefish salad or smoked salmon will get to you in great condition. Roadie is a pretty cool company that works a little like Uber or Lyft. They will notify you by email or text as they are arriving with ETA's and everything. Super cool. They keep us up to date too so we can keep track of everything.

So, I think we will give this a whirl next weekend. I will send an email out on September 17th at 11am. You will have until 8pm Sunday, September 18th to order and you will get your stuff on Tuesday September 20th between Noon and 5pm.

Now, I know that I said don't tell anyone else but I don't want you guys to feel bad about that so you can tell a few people you really like. Just don't splash it to the whole world yet. You can forward them this email and send them to the website to sign up to get emails for regional shipping.

Then we will want your feedback. After all, you are the pioneers, the trailblazers for us. We depend on you to nudge us in the right direction. You are the most important part of this and we rely on you to guide us in the right direction.

Anyway, that's it for now. More info to come every week. I'm excited. Hopefully, you are too.

Look out for the order form Saturday, Sept 17 at 11am

Peace

Robert Amar

Small World Seafood

Owner