We’re not hiding from our Golden Windbeutel nomination

Recently, one of our products sold in Germany – our Norwegian smoked salmon – was nominated for the “Goldener Windbeutel” award by Foodwatch. This is not good news, and we take this nomination very seriously. After all, transparency and sustainability are at the core of everything we do.

Fish Tales was founded ten years ago with a clear mission: to ensure that everyone can enjoy seafood – now and in the future. To achieve this, the seafood industry must change. It’s a sector too often associated with fraud, unsustainable practices, and even illegal activity. That’s exactly why we uphold the highest sustainability standards, guarantee full traceability and transparency, and challenge others to improve. We take this nomination seriously precisely because transparency and accountability are at the heart of what we stand for.

Changing the seafood industry doesn’t happen from the sidelines. We need to be present in the market – in restaurants and supermarkets – to make sustainable options accessible to consumers. That also means offering products people know, love, and buy – like smoked salmon.

When we started Fish Tales, we didn’t consider farmed seafood. Until we realized that Atlantic salmon is widely loved by consumers – but also has a very negative environmental footprint. The only way to change that impact is to offer a more sustainable alternative and help consumers make better choices. So, we introduced smoked salmon with ASC certification – the best available option at the time, offered by just a few farms.

But we always aim to go beyond certification. That’s why we continued our search for a farm that fully aligned with our mission. That search led us to Kvarøy Arctic – a true leader in responsible farming and high quality. We’ve already been working with them in our Dutch and U.S. markets – and as previously stated, their salmon will be available in Germany starting in September.

That’s why the timing of this nomination is particularly unfortunate. Germany is the final market to transition to Kvarøy Arctic’s salmon. Thanks to our close relationship with owner Alf and the small-scale nature of the farm, we can guarantee full transparency and traceability – from product to farming site.

If you have any further questions please reach out to [email protected].