SUSTAINABILITY
PROMISE
At Caught Online, we focus on every step of our product’s journey. From the ocean or farm to your cutting board, we work tirelessly to ensure the entire process is as environmentally friendly, sustainable, and delicious as possible. For us, where our food comes from is as important as where and how it’s going.
FROZEN VS 'FRESH'
If you can go and buy a fish straight off the docks or catch it yourself we love you for that, other than that, Frozen is simply better. We believe that freezing fish soon after it is caught gives you a better experience than eating ‘fresh’ fish which may be kept chilled for a week or longer before it reaches your plate. Committing to frozen also means we can offer you the widest range of fish, of the highest quality, at all times. We believe that OUR frozen fish will give you the same eating experience as buying fish at the quayside and eating it straight away.
Sustainability
We want to make it as simple as possible for our customers to understand the impact of their food.
In each product description you will be able to see the relevant sustainability information such as its listing on the SASSI list.
We also reference other regulators sustainability reports especially for international products.
Let’s look at the full picture
We make the food system more sustainable because we deliver sustainable species caught or farmed in the right way. We get seafood from our fishers and farmers to your forks faster, through fewer hands and over a shorter total distance than grocery stores. Not to mention, our food is all flash frozen and pre-portioned, so you’re not throwing away expired seafood that you didn’t get around to eating and you’re not overbuying — which is a burden on the planet (and your wallet).
SUSTAINABLE FROM THE SOURCE
Sustainable sourcing means getting to know our suppliers far beyond what you read on the label. We aim to get as close to the source of our supply as possible, that means knowing and visiting supplier facilities in person and understanding and evaluating their value chains to ensure they meet our standards.
A GREENER FOOTPRINT - A GREENER FOOTPRINT
We can potentially save up to 80% on carbon emissions compared to store bought groceries, thanks to our streamlined supply chain and more efficient distribution, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions. With our new, reusable packaging, we’re able to get your orders delivered to you faster and fresher than ever before. (For aggregated deliveries – read full article here.)
SMARTER PACKAGING
We agree, plastic sucks. We are conscious that there must be a balance between sending fresh, high-quality, safe products and ensuring that we do this with minimum packaging. We think the best kind of packaging is reusable, the majority of our packaging is reusable. If it can’t be reused, it can be recycled.
LESS FOOD WASTE
We create less food waste than retail grocery stores. We do this by offering exclusively frozen products eliminating the large waste created by the lengthy supply chain required to catch and sell fresh fish in grocery stores and the limited lifespan of ‘fresh’ fish. We also perfectly portion seafood to what you would typically need for each meal. So there’s less prep for you, and less wasted food.
WHY WE CHOOSE FROZEN
SO WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY SELL FROZEN FISH?
Well, they do, although they would like you to think it was fresh. Just read the label on tray-packed “chilled” fish in most supermarkets. Almost always, you’ll find that it was previously frozen and has been defrosted for sale. Frankly, this is madness. Fish is at its best when handled as little as possible. Defrosting and repacking it as an intermediate stage between initial freezing and you buying it doesn’t make sense at all. It only caters to that old belief that fresh fish is superior to frozen.
WHAT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF FISH?
Quality is determined by when, where and how the fish is caught, and how it is looked after between catching and delivery to your door.
These days, quality is determined by when, where and how the fish is caught, and how it is looked after between catching and delivery to your door. A good fresh fish display looks wonderful, but it takes its toll on the fish. Exposure to the air degrades fish. Everyone knows how tired the display can look at the end of the day. Some of the best fish is caught by specialised vessels which freeze their catch on board within hours. Our hook and line caught Tuna is are flash frozen to -60ºc after being caught, this demands a much higher price compared to tuna landed and processed ashore. This is because it is are superior.
WHY IS FRESH FISH OFTEN CONSIDERED SUPERIOR TO FROZEN?
It’s not because the fish was frozen. It was because the fish was inferior when frozen.
Until approximately 40 years ago, most fish in South Africa were caught by large trawlers which would undertake three week voyages to fishing grounds. Coastal waters were fished by smaller vessels which were back in port within a few days. These always had the best fish, because the fresher the fish at the point of landing, the better the quality, but today the majority of this catch struggles to reach the average person in and around the city quickly. When commercial freezing was introduced, it was applied to the cheaper fish from the longer voyages. Frozen soon began to mean inferior.This reputation was largely justified, and it stuck. But it was not because the fish was frozen. It was because it was inferior when frozen.
