New Zealand-based New Zealand King Salmon Co. launched Ora King, a best-of-breed King salmon now available to the foodservice and select finer retail markets nationwide.

The Ora King brand represents the culmination of world-leading, sustainable practices developed by New Zealand King Salmon Co. during the past 20 years of farming in the pristine waters of the South Island's Marlborough Sounds.

"The pure and isolated waters of the Marlborough Sounds enable us to raise Ora King salmon in a natural and wholesome manner with our sea farms comprising 97.5% water space to just 2.5% salmon," says Mark Preece, general manager of aquaculture. "We are also proudly committed to humane harvesting techniques to ensure the process is quick, effective and as stress free as possible for the salmon."

A Quality at the Source philosophy is the foundation for raising Ora King salmon. The salmon are nurtured throughout their life cycle, minimizing stress and fatigue, and are humanely harvested using a percussive stunning method based on the traditional Japanese Ike Jime technique.

Once the Ora King salmon complete their journey to the processing facility, each one undergoes a thorough cleaning, washing, grading and preparation process. Master Graders then review each fish against standards for size, color and quality. Once approved, an individually-numbered Ora King gill tag is attached to allow for authenticity of origin and traceability for customers. The salmon are shipped in the newly designed Ora King carton, a recyclable, insulated container.

Ora King salmon’s feed is sourced from sustainable, certified GMO-free suppliers and raised in an antibiotic-, vaccination- and pesticide-free environment.

The majority of Ora King salmon are sold whole or as fillets. Also available is Ora King Smoked Salmon, a traditional cold-smoked salmon that is filleted and pinboned by hand, brined with sea salt and cold water and slowly smoked for nine hours over native manuka wood.