Bill
Webber, a lifetime resident of Cordova and commercial harvester of
Alaska salmon was always curious what happened at the other end of his
supply chain. He wanted to know more about who bought it and what
they thought about his product. He wanted to meet and get to know
the chef's and restaurant owners, as well as have them learn more about
Alaska, the region, the harvest and the salmon. He started
Gulkana-Seafood Direct in 2002 to do exactly that.
For 40
years Bill has been part of every seafood quality program and adopted
those and many of his own technologies and processes to keep the
quality bar as high as possible on his product. With independent
boutique clients throughout the US, Bill's skill as a fisherman and
direct marketer is only surpassed by his communications with his buyers
on each and every one of their fish. It is a unique story often
proudly displayed in the restaurants featuring the Gulkana Seafoods
Direct, genuine Copper River salmon product.
Those are the words that come to mind when talking with 
Regional
sourcing of food and beverage product is one of the fastest growing
changes talked about in the food media. Large and small companies
alike are adopting the policies of local sourcing for a variety of reasons including reducing carbon foot print, assuring fresher foods,
supporting their local economies and offering better food security
(less people handling the product along the supply chain.) 
It's not easy being a food manufacturer in Alaska. Besides being far
from ingredients, packaging and markets, there is a limited private
sector system that supports the needs of this type manufacturer with
equipment, supplies and know how. That is why we keep our Rolodex
of those inside and outside of Alaska that have familiarity with
Alaska's producers and products and been major contributors on best
practices.