Sanford’s Big Glory Bay King Salmon named top primary producer

Outstanding sustainability practices, strong growth and a reputation as a business built on the best New Zealand has to offer has seen Sanford’s Big Glory Bay King Salmon brand take out the Food and Beverage Producer Award at the 2023 Primary Industries New Zealand Awards.  

Confident in the brand’s commitment to both sustainability and protection of the New Zealand producers’ image overseas, entering the Food and Beverage Producer award was a no-brainer for the Big Glory Bay team, who believe it’s the New Zealand environment itself that makes their King Salmon so special in the first place.  

Emma Croft, group marketing manager for Sanford, says so much of the story is provenance – knowing exactly where the product comes from. “At 47 degrees south, Big Glory Bay is one of the most remote aquaculture farms in the world. This unique location is what gives our King Salmon its quality.  

“The chilly currents of the Southern Ocean flow into the bay throughout the year, which keeps the average water temperature nice and cool. So, our fish can grow hormone-free, maturing much more slowly just like they would in the wild. Aotearoa New Zealand’s pristine waters are naturally free of lice and other nasty bugs as well, so Big Glory Bay’s fish don’t need antibiotics,” Emma says. 

“Being from New Zealand is a key part of our story that customers value. The incredible location within New Zealand is another part of that. The flavour of the salmon itself tells the story. The high content of good fats and the incredible marbled flesh are some of the things that chefs all over the world comment on.  Many of them tell us it’s the best salmon they have ever worked with. 

“And at Sanford, with a location that special and important to us, you can understand why we are so committed to protecting it.” 

The Big Glory Bay team move their farms every two years to rest the sea floor, use satellite and drone technology to monitor the bay for algae blooms and keep their farms at one of the lowest pen densities in the world, so the salmon have more room. These initiatives, which go above and beyond industry standards, are the reason why King Salmon from New Zealand has earnt the coveted “Best Choice, Buy First” ranking from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Programme, meaning it’s the most sustainable farmed salmon in the world.  

Big Glory Bay also verifies its products with forensic science firm Oritain to certify the provenance of its salmon. Five years in, this partnership is going strong, and Big Glory Bay’s salmon has maintained its certification, so shoppers know for sure they’re buying a product that has been sustainably farmed, free from GMOs, hormones and antibiotics, right down the at the bottom of Aotearoa. 

But for the team at Big Glory Bay, this award is less of a chance to showboat, and more of a confirmation that they’re taking aquaculture in the right direction.  

Says Emma, “It’s amazing to get this thumbs up from industry insiders and gives our people, Big Glory Bay and Sanford, the motivation to keep pushing the environmental envelope in sustainability. I can’t wait to see what clever solutions our team comes up with next.”