February 10, 2014 — The owner and CEO of Red’s Best, Jared Auerbach, and Red’s Best are a bit of an anomaly. In a business of old-timers, Jared is a newcomer, spending a few years on commercial vessels before he decided to see how things work on the land side of the pier. Red’s Best is developing innovative technology to change the way fishermen sell to distributors and the way restaurateurs and consumers trace their seafood from boat to plate. And notwithstanding the gloom surrounding some of New England fishing operations, his business is thriving—since beginning six years ago, it’s grown from one employee to about fifty.
“This industry is archaic,” he says as he scrolls through an iPhone app that lets him track in real time where and when boats he buys from will be landing and what species they’ll be offloading. With that information, he can dispatch one of his fleet of Red’s Best trucks right to the port and have fresh fish back in his distribution center just hours after it’s caught. What’s more, he can trace what vessel caught which fish with what gear and code that information to a QR code placed on a label affixed to each shipment, allowing his customers to find out exactly where their seafood comes from. His website displays new seafood arrivals to wholesalers and helps fishermen track their sales history.
All this technology gives Red’s Best a competitive advantage, reducing transaction costs and creating new efficiency in the distribution process. It also let them work more effectively with day boat coastal fishermen, building on the relationships Jared built in his years working on commercial vessels. During the summer months, Red’s Best buys from up to 200 vessels each day, and two thirds of the seafood they sell comes from these regional day boats.
The Red’s Best model charts a new path forward for sustainable, locally sourced seafood. Allowing consumers to easily trace the origin of their fish helps everyone make better choices about their seafood purchases. Buying from the day boat fleet supports fishermen with the best prices, creates a relationship that will result in better seafood harvesting and handling, and encourages stewardship of a public resource. And Jared’s expertise in selling the right seafood to his customers—a process he describes as “matchmaking”—encourages the purchase of seasonal, local fish and helps him sell relatively abundant species like skates.
Read the full story from the Conservation Law Foundation