It's a GOLD and BEST IN CLASS Geraldton Yellowtail Kingfish
Media Release
1 August 2019
Geraldton’s own Indian Ocean Fresh
Australia (IOFA) has won a Gold Medal
and been awarded Best in Class at
this year’s Australian Food Awards in
Melbourne.
The results were announced by the
Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria
this morning.
The Geraldton based marine finfish aquaculture company farms Yellowtail Kingfish in the waters of Champion Bay off the coast of Geraldton and entered the category class of Fresh Fish (2-4kg) alongside many other quality Australian producers. The fish were judged on appearance, flavour and texture.
IOFA Director and owner Erica Starling was thrilled with the announcement stating the win was testament to the continuing hard work and innovation of the IOFA team and many supporters.
“We won Gold last year in Sydney and to now come away with a Gold Medal and Best in Class in Melbourne is an amazing result,” Ms Starling said. “It confirms we are continuing to produce and sell fish of the highest quality”.
“Our main aim in entering was to obtain valuable feedback on our product quality from experienced seafood professionals and to see where our fish is benchmarked against other high-quality seafood produce from across the nation,” Ms Starling said.
“As a family business in a regional city we may not be the biggest but we strive to be the best and it is exciting that aquaculture produce from this region can be of such a high standard.
“There are many unique challenges facing the emerging aquaculture industry, especially in a regional area and we sincerely value the ongoing support of those in our community.
Ms Starling also thanked her many customers for their continued support of IOFA and Geraldton Kingfish.
The win comes on the back of an exciting week for IOFA as they were awarded the People Development Award and employee Justine Arnold the Young Achievers Award at the 2019 Western Australian Seafood Industry Awards.
For further information on the 2019 Australian Food Awards please visit:
https://my.rasv.com.au/Results/Competitions/2019-afa/Classes/SEA001
Fact File:
Indian Ocean Fresh Australia (IOFA) is a Geraldton business operating an ocean-based finfish farm in the waters of Champion Bay, Geraldton, Western Australia
IOFA supplies premium Yellowtail Kingfish to the domestic Australian seafood market and international export markets
Owned and operated by Erica Starling, IOFA have been marine finfish farming in Geraldton since 2008, firstly with Mulloway and now with Yellowtail Kingfish
Successful trials of Yellowtail Kingfish marine finfish farming in conjunction with the Mid West Development Commission led to commercial production
2018 State Winner, Delicious Produce Award
2018 Gold Medal, RAS NSW Sydney Royal Fine Food Show
2019 People Development Award, Western Australian Seafood Industry Awards
2019 Young Achievers Award – Justine Arnold (IOFA Production Manager), Western Australian Seafood Industry Awards
Media Enquiries:
Erica Starling
