The company’s founder and director, Colin Marshall, began his career in the industry when he was a teenager, working in a Brisbane crab and tuna factory. Exposed to the export market from an early stage in his career, he rose through the ranks to become a factory supervisor and then general manager, learning full-cycle logistics in the process.
Fast becoming one of Australia’s leading experts in tuna grading, sourcing and exporting, Marshall branched out into bi-product sales of pelagic fishing for the domestic market. Moving to NSW, he teamed up with two of the country’s most experienced seafood operators to specialise in the export of fresh local tuna from the state to Japan.
COLIN MARSHALL
Colin Marshall has become an in demand consultant. While visiting Indonesia, Marshall saw huge potential in the archipelago’s fishing industry: the product in Indonesian waters was plentiful and diverse, but handling and quality control standards on the ground needed to be improved to ensure seafood was of a sufficient quality to be exported to Australia.
Marshall’s understanding of hook-to-table practices allowed him to work with Indonesian fishermen to help improve everything from on-the-ground processing and handling to quality control, as well as cold-chain and distribution logistics when the perfect product landed in Australia. Today, he continues to work with local fisherman to upskill and enhance their knowledge, educating them on how this impacts quality and export potential and, in turn, the sustainability of their industry.
This ongoing attention to detail and commitment to community fisheries means that CSJ Seafoods offers the best quality product possible to chefs, suppliers and kitchens across Australia, while maintaining ethical and tribal fishing practices.
SEAFOOD PRODUCTS
Having focused on the export of fresh fish from Indonesia to Australia for more than a decade, CSJ recently set up a division dedicated to bringing high-quality frozen products into Australia. Teaming up with Kim Palmer – a veteran in the industry, with more than 30 years of experience – CSJ’s new frozen seafood offering focuses on sourcing niche products that are in high demand across Australia; products that the domestic market cannot fill or support because of a lack of local inventory.
Marshall and Palmer work closely with the who’s who of the domestic market to establish what chefs and industry leaders want and can’t access domestically because of insufficient local volume, then use their extensive connections and supply chains around Asia and the world to source quality products to fill this demand, all the while maintaining the CSJ Seafoods ethical ethos.
All dealings are personal and hands-on, from the catch to the delivery, with CSJ working closely with fisherman globally, chefs in Australia, and everyone in between.
HANDS ON SOURCING
Marshall has been travelling to Indonesia for more than 12 years – he can speak the language, and has studied the country’s business culture. In many cases, he has met the fishermen that supply the products he sources, and has mixed with them and their families in local communities – eating with them, and attending cultural events. Most importantly, he has a deep respect for their environment and the sovereignty of their industry. This approach means that the communities CSJ Seafoods works with thrive and grow as a result, with the grassroots generation of new jobs and vital infrastructure to support the industry.
CSJ Seafoods is committed to giving community fishermen the knowledge and skills they need to own and grow their businesses and invest in infrastructure and education, empowering them to produce world-class products that CSJ then purchases to export to Australia.
Unlike other companies, CSJ Seafoods’ employees are constantly on the ground with Indonesian fishermen and suppliers – Marshall travels to far-flung corners of the country to immerse himself in the industry and audit the products he is sourcing to export to the Australian market. There is no middle-man.
With the establishment of CSJ Seafoods’ frozen division, the company branched out into other regional markets, including Thailand and Vietnam, as well as further flung markets in Africa. Wherever the company goes to find products, it maintains a hands-on approach to sourcing, working only with artisan, community-based fisheries to ensure the sustainability and longevity of markets. The company does not work with big trawlers that mine the oceans, but rather hand-line fishermen with a single hook, and small boats that only fish when the tides and weather are right.
DISTRIBUTION
With decades of experience, CSJ Seafoods does not cut any corners when it comes to passing the very strict customs, quarantine and NSW Food Safety regulations in place and applied to all seafood imported into Australia.
On the ground in the country, the company works with speed and efficiency to ensure fresh seafood is not stored, and is in kitchens and chefs’ hands as fast as possible, using experienced logistics companies to distribute Australia-wide.
CSJ Seafoods has its own fleet of temperature-controlled trucks, which means that from landing at the international airport, fresh fish can be managed, handled and hand-delivered the same day. Frozen fish can be held in freezer storage units, and delivered in a timely fashion as needed by domestic clients, in so doing completing the hook-to-table loop.
