In the conference room at our Auburndale offices, there is a map of the world. On that map, there are pushpins, and each pushpin represents a story about a relationship with a partner who uses Adams Cold Storage to get their product to where it ultimately goes.
This is a fish story.
One of our oldest and most unique customers imports quality male capelin from the waters off of Iceland and Newfoundland in the northern Atlantic. The capelin is a small fish related to the smelt and is noted for their spawning habits. In fact, from the end of May through July, locals in those northern Atlantic countries turn out to see the “Capelin Run,” where millions of these small fish invade the coves in order to spawn.
It’s quite a sight to see: a dark blanket of fish, rolling around just under the surface of the water. The capelin also bring in an occasional humpback whale, who enjoys the buffet and allow itself to be seen by the people standing on the shore.
Locals use nets to catch them, or some just put on their rubber boots and dip in a bucket. It’s some of the easiest fishing you’ll ever encounter. While they say it’s not the best fish you’ll ever eat, it’s still pretty good, whether it’s fried, roasted over an open fire, pickled, or salted and dried. Canada primarily exports females to Asia where the roe is transformed into “masago,” a sushi ingredient.
We typically store some three million pounds of capelin a year at our facility for this customer. The capelin we see is sold as animal feed to zoos, marine labs and aquarium venues throughout the U.S., the Caribbean and even Dubai.
We ship or receive products to or from 38 different countries on each of the seven continents. We have shipped or received products from every state in the country. Each one of those products connects us to our partners and to the world as the products go from our place to across the country and beyond.