Many say New Zealand’s King salmon is the best salmon in the world. It’s high in oil, which enhances its texture, flavour and omega 3 content, and has a complex yet delicate mouthfeel that even the most discerning customers will appreciate.

Salmon farmed in New Zealand is King salmon (sometimes knows as Chinook) not the Atlantic salmon farmed elsewhere, and we’re effectively the only global supplier.

New Zealand’s salmon farms excel when it comes to sustainability and environmental management. The entire industry is certified for responsible practices, with recognition from the likes of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Global Food Safety Initiative.

A purity you can taste

Keeping our waters pristine is a critical part of ensuring that our rich, golden-hued salmon are their flavourful best. The purity of the water, the natural nutrients, and the care and attention shown by producers all contribute to New Zealand salmon’s unique flavour profile; a flavour that can be served up whole, smoked, filleted, as sashimi or even caviar.

Whether it is farmed in the clean, cold waters of the Marlborough Sounds or the icy glacial-fed rivers near the Southern Alps, wherever salmon grows and thrives, directly impacts on its taste and flavour.

Some call this the ‘merroir’ – the water equivalent to ‘terroir’, where the flavour of different products is related to the place it came from. Whatever you call it, and wherever your New Zealand salmon is from, you can be sure that it’s grown in some of the cleanest water on earth.

Plus, our strict bio-security procedures and the absence of any native salmon species mean that New Zealand King salmon is raised without need for vaccines or antibiotics, and they’re only fed specially formulated food pellets with no steroids or growth enhancers.

The Wagyu of the sea

New Zealand King Salmon has been breeding salmon in the crystal clear waters flowing from Te Waikoropupū Springs at the top of the South Island for a quarter of a century.

They’ve created a new breed that’s genetically distinct from any other King salmon. Ōra King Salmon is an especially fatty fish with a vibrant flesh colour and high oil content. Capturing the attention of chefs around the world, the strikingly marbled meat with a rich, buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture has even been called the ‘Wagyu of the sea’.

Every Ōra King salmon is graded for marbling and colour, and hand selected by a master grader before being individually numbered for traceability. That’s right – every Ōra King salmon has a unique gill tag so that you and your customers can be confident that you’re serving fully traceable, authentic products.

Fresh from the Southern Alps

Farmed in the shadow of New Zealand’s highest mountain in continuously flowing waters direct from the glaciers of the Southern Alps, Mt Cook Alpine Salmon thrives in some of the purest, coldest fresh water.

Here, there’s no need to use pesticides or antibiotics to grow healthy fish - just skilled people, good farming practices, and the abundance of nature.

Swimming against constantly flowing, icy cold glacial waters results in fine intra-muscular fat lines and a subtle, clean taste and delicate texture unlike any other salmon. It’s rich in healthy omega 3 and has a perfectly balanced fat content.

The taste of the Marlborough Sounds

The Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island are famed for their clean cold waters that are perfect for raising delicious salmon.

It is here where there’s plenty of room to grow that Regal Marlborough King Salmon is farmed. Farms are located at carefully chosen sites with deep cool waters and low variation in temperature and salinity, sufficient water flow, are sheltered from wind and waves.

This results in salmon that has a flavour, colour, texture and healthy omega-3 fatty acids that reflects the unique mix of currents, water quality and temperatures of Marlborough's pristine Pelorus and Queen Charlotte Sounds.

New Zealand producers serve a variety of salmon options that will meet the even the most discerning diner. Make an enquiry now to place your order.