Patagonia is entering the foods industry. Debuting this month, Patagonia is excited to announce its first edible product line, Patagonia Provisions, with its inaugural product, Wild Salmon Jerky.
While a markedly different direction from outdoors apparel and gear, this move represents founder and owner Yvon Chouinard’s mission to increase awareness on key environmental issues, and to prove that good business can also be good for the environment. From inception to distribution, Patagonia Provisions aims to provide consumers with sustenance that is sustainable in both vision and practice.
What does a clothing company know about the salmon industry?
Surprisingly, the story starts with Patagonia’s switch to using organic cotton in 1996. After realizing the detriment that conventional cotton was having on both the environment and consumers in a Boston outpost of the popular retail store, Patagonia altered their entire line of products to be made with 100% organically grown cotton. In their wake, a bevy of other industry-leading companies followed suit. It was this industry-wide change, wrought simply by leading-through-example, which inspired Yvon Chouinard to initiate Patagonia’s entry into the business of food, starting with salmon.
More than just fish, salmon have played a vital role in the survival and development of the ecology and civilization of the western United States. Their migration patterns are responsible for moving nutrients from the bountiful Pacific to the sterile interior, forming the lifeblood of coastal ecosystems, contributing to economic, trade, social and cultural channels along the way. Yet in recent years, salmon populations have become increasingly troubled, suffering from extreme overfishing, poor corporate and governmental oversight, and complications resulting from commercially farmed salmon.
With Patagonia Provisions, Patagonia aims to become part of the solution, tapping into authentic First Nation’s practices and conservationist ideals to provide healthy and sustainable wild salmon for consumption. Recognizing the serious problems facing the salmon industry today, Patagonia Provisions has created a new business model demonstrating that selectively harvesting salmon is not only possible, but is good for both business and the consumer, while protecting the future of wild stocks.
Working with Canadian conservation organization Skeena Wild, Patagonia sources their salmon from sustainable, in-river fisheries that use tangle-tooth nets, beach seines and traditional First Nations fish wheels and dip nets. These selective-harvest techniques ensure that endangered salmon populations are allowed to survive and spawn, and ultimately provide a higher-quality and sustainable fish. Patagonia Provisions Wild Salmon Jerky comes only from fully mature fish, caught in their prime in the river where they were born, and caught upstream of any tributaries that may have endangered runs.
In partnering with legendary Canadian smokehouse guru Harald Kossler, Patagonia is confident they have created the finest quality and tastiest salmon product on the market. Sold online and in their 50+ retail stores nationwide, Patagonia Provisions Wild Salmon Jerky comes in three distinct varieties: Cold Smoked Wild Sockeye, Hot Smoked Wild Sockeye, and Par Smoked Wild Sockeye. Sold in 2 oz. packages ($12.50) or a sampler pack of all three varieties ($35), Patagonia Provisions Wild Salmon Jerky is the ideal snack for anyone from outdoors enthusiasts to the most devoted couch surfer.
Patagonia’s mission statement declares their intention to “Make the best product. Cause no unnecessary harm. Inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” With the launch of Patagonia Provisions, the company has entered uncharted waters to do just that. Providing a unique and tasty snack product, sourced and produced in a responsible and sustainable manner, Patagonia is sending a message to the salmon and greater food industries-that change is possible, and in the long run will benefit us all.
