An interview with Bryan Boches, co-founder of Safe Catch.
In case you missed it, Phil Lempert named Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna a Pick of the Week for Phil's Food Reviews! We followed up with Bryan Boches, co-founder of Safe Catchble, to find out more about the development of this product and how they invented new technology to test fish for mercury.
What inspired you to create your new product? Is there a particular niche or segment of the market you were focusing on?
We wanted to bring safe and nutritious tuna back to pregnant women, young children and elite athletes. We did this by inventing new technology to test every single fish for mercury (and we're the only brand that does).
What makes your product different and able to stand out against similar ones? How important has differentiation been in developing this product?
Safe Catch Elite tuna is the lowest mercury of any brand. Safe Catch is also the only brand of tuna that screens every fish to a mercury limit. Safe Catch Elite has a mercury limit 10X stricter than the FDA. One of our competitors, Wild Planet, that say they are lower mercury, has over 400% more mercury on average than Safe Catch.
Safe Catch started over and invented a new way to make tuna. Conventional brands use precook processing that can leech out up to 80% of Omega 3s and then cook the tuna again in the can. Conventional tuna may rehydrate precooked tuna with GMO VB and pyrophosphates. Safe Catch does it differently by taking a solid wild tuna steak and packing it in the can raw. Safe Catch seals in 100% of the nutrients and uses a special cook process invented by Safe Catch.
What was the process like of designing your package, and how do you feel the final result has impacted perceptions of your product?
We wanted to communicate to consumers that we are a trust brand and committed to transparency, health and sustainability. The hardest part for us is that we do so many things that are different and there isn't enough room on a can of tuna to explain why it is better for you, tastes better and is better for the planet.
Does your product have relevant health attributes? What are they?
Safe Catch Elite. Lowest mercury of any brand. Official Tuna of the American Pregnancy Association and Trusted Partner of Healthy Child, Healthy World. More nutrients and Omega 3s than conventional brands that precook. No GMOs. No additives. No Precooking. No fillers. No Gluten. Just pure tuna.
What sustainability efforts have you made with your product/packaging?
All of our products are either green or yellow ranked by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. This includes Pole & Line Caught and FAD Free wild tuna. Sustainability is core to our values and a key component of our mission is to protect purity in our oceans, lakes and rivers.
Through creating a new product, what would you say were the most difficult parts of the process and what came the easiest?
When you have a set of core values, everything you need to do becomes a clear choice. The hard part is reinventing a category from start to finish.
Anything you would change if you were starting from scratch again?
We are always looking to improve and testing new ways to make our tuna taste even better.
Besides your product, what's one out on the market that you admire?
We love Amy's and their commitment to transparency and health.