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TALKING THE TALK
Metcalfe’s Market Knows
Wisconsin Fish is a Good Catch With Jim Meier and Brad Edmunds, Madison
If we can support a local farmer or fish hatchery, that’s what we want to do.
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How long has your business operated?
Jim: Metcalfe’s Market is a chain of locally owned, fourth-generation (working on a fifth- generation) grocery stores out of the Madison area (two stores) and Wauwatosa (one store). We started in 1917, so we’re coming up on our 100th anniversary. We’re an upscale, quality service operation.
out of Belleville where they have an aquaponics system where they grow tilapia and lettuce. We have some trout out of Westfield and there’s Falcon Aquaponics out of Slinger, Wis.
Kathy Kline’s been helping us find tilapia facili- ties so we can use fish from these people. We like to use Wisconsin fish to help keep business local. We are a Wisconsin business and anything we can do to keep the business in-state and help local businesses, that’s what we’re trying to do.
Why should people buy Wisconsin fish?
Jim: To support the local economy. If we can support a local farmer or fish hatchery, that’s what we want to do. The carbon footprint is a big deal to us, too. Tilapia is a perfect example. If we can get it from Belleville or Slinger, which are ten to thirty miles away, compared to Honduras or Ecuador, it’s much better for the environment, and the fish is fresher.
We’ve partnered with FishWise from out in the San Diego area, too, to work on our sustain- ability program. We follow their rules and regulations. That’s who we turn to to see if and what we can carry. For instance, when we first started, we had to eliminate orange roughy. We sold a lot of it, but because it’s not really a sustainable product, we don’t sell it anymore.
The environment and what’s right for the future are all tied into the local aspect of what we do.
Why did you decide to feature Wisconsin fish?
Jim: We’re starting to expand a little bit more. We carry over 3,000 local foods. That’s probably the biggest hook (no pun intended) we have with our customers. There’s nobody in the state that does local better. We started our campaign 10- 12 years ago before it was a catchy thing. Work- ing with a couple of local people, in the next few weeks we’re going to start carrying some Atlantic salmon that’s being farmed in former trout ponds in the Gays Mills area. We’re also working with a company called Clean Fresh Food