Britain’s most trusted voice in British seafood and founder of pioneering seafood restaurants Rockfish, Mitch Tonks, is launching Seafood at Home – an all-new way to buy and eat fish at its freshest. From sea to plate in 24 hours, Seafood at Home will change how we buy, cook and eat fish. 

Launching on 5^th January, Rockfish’s unique Seafood at Home service gives customers direct access to the renowned Brixham Market, seeing the catch as its being landed throughout the morning, minute-by-minute. The market will be open from 6am-12pm, giving customers the ability to purchase the freshest seafood direct from the boats for delivery straight to their door the following day. 

Seafood at Home is NOT another seafood box or fish meal kit. With Seafood at Home, Mitch Tonks is revolutionising the way British households purchase their fish. Unlike other fresh fish boxes on the market, the Seafood at Home team is in control of the entire process from boat to plate, meaning they can minimise the time between when the fish is landed to the moment it’s delivered to the customers door, as well as allowing them to offer the best fish the boats have to offer daily and a wider variety of expertly prepared cuts, all sustainably packaged and delivered direct. 

“For too long the fish supply chain has meant that getting our hands on really fresh fish is only possible for those living by the sea. For the rest of us, our choices are what is available pre-packed and ‘fresh’ from the supermarkets, severely limiting not only our choice but the quality and provenance too. By changing the process entirely, Seafood at Home will instead bring the joys of the market – finding the best quality, fresh British seafood – to everyone, in the end hoping to help us Brits eat more seafood, better.”

How does it work: Customers visit the online fish market where they can buy freshly landed fish selected by the Rockfish experts – whether from their own ‘The Rockfisher’ boat, or other local fishermen landing their daily catch. The seafood is then transported just 17 meters (that’s the equivalent of just four Ford Fiestas), where the fish is immediately cleaned, portioned, and packed directly next to the quay. It’s then wrapped in speciality designed boxes to ensure the fish arrives in tip-top condition. 

Fish and seafood on offer will change daily depending on what is landed, but options will include everything from monkfish to cod, sea bass, gurnard, brill, john dory, dover sole, cuttlefish, scallops, crab and much more. And if the customer is set on their favourites, all they need to do is sign up to the online market’s ‘notify me’ alerts, which means they’ll be notified when a boat with that specific catch lands, giving them the chance to bag their favourite fish the minute it leaves the boat. 

What’s more, Seafood at Home draws on the experience and high calibre of chefs on hand, meaning the team can offer cuts that aren’t typically seen on fish counters or in other delivery boxes. Think T-bones, chops, and ‘cote de boeuf’ cuts, alongside tails, cheeks, and specially-prepared children’s portions – all cut with easy cooking in mind. 

Over and above Seafood at Home providing direct access to freshly landed fish, perfectly prepared and wrapped ready to cook at home, each box also includes a helpful guide created by Mitch and his chefs, on how to cook fish at home. From top tips for roasting, to how to fry, cook in an oven bag, BBQ, and even a special section on the perfect T-bone. Each section has a recommendation on which fish work well with which method, and how to best achieve restaurant-quality results set to impress.

Well-known and respected for being one of the most knowledgeable voices and leading seafood chefs, restaurateurs and authors in the country, Mitch is firm in his belief that fish only needs a few ingredients to make a truly outstanding dish.  Staying true to this ethos, Mitch and the Rockfish chefs have developed a selection of sauces and butters designed to pair perfectly with the Seafood at Home catches. Tailored suggestions from a range of core options including Lime Pickle Butter, Seaweed Butter and Anchoiade sauce alongside other seasonal creations, will be given as fish is added to the basket, making it easy to select and cook the perfect dish confidently at home. Each of the sauces and butters are hand made by a dedicated team, individually portioned and wrapped and packed perfectly into the Seafood at Home box.  

Mitch is all too aware of the UK’s trepidation when it comes to buying and cooking fish at home: 

“As a rule, in the UK we don’t appreciate the bounty of seafood available to us. A huge proportion of what we catch off the British isles is exported, and in its place we import from across the world, which is heart-breaking when you think of incredible tasting, high quality seafood our fishermen are able to produce on a daily basis. Not only does British seafood taste incredible, but it also plays a vital part in feeding the population and providing jobs and security to our fisher men and women. Somewhere along the way, we Brits have lost the knowledge and tradition of preparing what’s available to us and have instead become scared of it.

“I started out as a fishmonger more than 25 years ago; in that time the industry hasn’t moved on as much as it should have to reflect changing buying habits and to give people the flexibility they want. At Rockfish we have so much experience at our fingertips – we not only sell British seafood through our own restaurants but supply other establishments including the likes of Hawksmoor. So, it made sense to us to take the ability chefs and restaurateurs have to buy direct from the market and put that power into home cooks’ hands. Really, Seafood at Home is a continuation of what we’ve always done, tailored to what today’s shopper really wants.”

However, Mitch is fully aware of the challenges he faces especially when it comes to eating fish at home and is doing everything possible to overcome these: 

“The odours so many people often associate with fish comes from deterioration, and often the way it is treated and packed. With Seafood at Home, we have gone the extra mile and invested in space and technology to meticulously pack the seafood portions, and separately pack them into their boxes, to overcome and ultimately avoid this challenge. All we have to do then is ensure it arrives in the best condition, so everyone can create fantastic dishes at home.”

With sustainability at the heart of every Tonks project, the Seafood at Home boxes will be no different. The boxes themselves are made from fully recycled materials, while the insulation is made from plastic bottles reclaimed from the ocean, and the vac pack plastic used to seal the portions is fully recyclable. With the aim of creating a self-contained system and producing as little new packaging as possible, the Seafood at Home team will be encouraging everyone to use their return service – via the Post Office – to send back the boxes and insulation, so they can be reused where possible.  Working to be part of the solution, the shift to eating local has a positive environmental impact, reducing imports and exports and therefore reducing fuel use, carbon emissions and waste. As an ambassador for the MSC in the UK, Mitch is always looking better ways of working in the industry from sourcing to packaging.

Alongside the fresh fish, available to purchase will be alongside hand-selected artisanal products made by some of Mitch’s favourite producers. The Rockfish team want to help support and preserve these small, family-run businesses that producers, strong in the belief that they produce the best of the best. They will include: Alfred Enderby, Brown and Forrest, Morecombe Bay Furness and Weymouth 51.  The Seafood at Home online fish market will launch in January, with the first catch being landed that morning. Delivery starts from £5, available Tuesday – Saturday.   

Find out more and buy your Seafood at Home box online here.

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