SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 19 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, through its affiliated company Management of the Rural Environment of the Canary Islands (GMR Canarias), and the Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Ashotel), have organized this Wednesday the fifth edition of the ‘Encounters with the Local Product’ programme.
This event has the objective of promoting the consumption of tuna in the tourist establishments of the islands, as well as promoting the meeting between producers of the primary sector and hotel professionals to promote local products.
For this occasion, a visit was made to the facilities of the Organization of Producers of Tuna and Fresh Fishing, Isla Tuna, to learn first-hand about the complete production process, from the start of unloading at the port, carving and weighing in the which determines the size and weight of the copies, the labeling and packaging, until the final point of distribution.
After the tour of the venue, located in the dock of the capital of Tenerife, the chef and gastronomic advisor Juan Carlos Clemente performed a spectacular cutting of the tuna live through the traditional art of ‘ronqueo del tuna’, which culminated with a tasting of the piece of 70 kilos captured in the coasts of the island.
The event was attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Regional Executive, Alicia Vanoostende; the General Director of Fisheries, Carmelo Dorta; the CEO of GMR Canarias, Pablo Zurita; the vice president of Ashotel, Enrique Talg; the president of the organization and president of the Brotherhood of Playa San Juan, Gilberto Sánchez; the vice president of Isla Tuna, Francisco Hernández; the manager of Isla Tuna, Jonathan Marrero; and the sales and personnel manager of Isla tuna, Juan Ramón García, who agreed on the importance of “revaluing the uniqueness of local products for the tourism sector, the economy and local gastronomy.”
The regional manager of the area, Alicia Vanoostende, stressed that “giving value to this product and that it be demanded from the tourism sector at fair prices for fishermen, is the best way to achieve greater profitability.” Along these lines, she pointed out the importance of “including a product of such high quality as tuna in hotels, so these actions that we carry out jointly are essential to achieve it.”
Regarding the fishing sector, he indicated that “from the regional government we have subsidized taxes on diesel for fishermen in order to compensate for the rise in fuel prices, therefore, it is essential to give greater value to the product that is fished.”
For his part, the vice president of Ashotel, Enrique Talg, pointed out that “these meetings are allowing us that purchasing managers, commissary managers or those responsible for Food and Beverage get to know local products at their production and processing points; we are convinced that our tourists, when they taste them, are willing to pay for them”. “Ashotel has been betting on local products for years, and the best way for our associates to get to know and understand the production systems and the quality of the products is at events like today’s,” he concluded.
The Government of the Canary Islands, together with GMR Canarias, intends to promote the incorporation of the local product into the image of the Canary Islands as one more asset, complementary to the rest of the attributes and attractions it possesses.
