Fishy menu choice has students smiling

PALMER — There’s something fishy going on at a local school cafeteria.

As students glanced over Friday’s lunch menu at Palmer Junior Middle School, they found a new lunchtime treat to satisfy their hunger. The school unveiled a new and unique item for a school cafeteria — a wild Alaska salmon wrap produced by Anchorage-based Taco Loco.

Leean Muncy, 13, said she was glad to see a new option on the menu at her school. As a fan of fish, the savory salmon provided a great lunch, she said.

“I think it’s really delicious,” Muncy said.

Not only is the salmon wrap something new, but she said it was a tasty alternative to traditional lunch foods served at school.

“I think the salmon wrap is better than most of the other food they have,” she said.

With that in mind, Muncy said she will probably eat the salmon wrap once or twice a week.

Kumiko Hayes, an eighth-grade student, said she was also impressed with the new menu treat, although at first she was a little hesitant to try it.

“I was skeptical trying it, but I really liked it,” Hayes said.

As with other students, Hayes said she likes the idea of having an alternative to other sometimes-greasy food available at the school. Generally, she grabs food like pizza for lunch, but knows it’s not the best thing she could be eating. In addition to providing healthy and flavorful food, Hayes said it’s nice to have an Alaska-based meal.

“It makes me feel more Alaskan that I’m eating salmon,” she said.

Adam Galindo, vice president of Taco Loco, said the salmon wrap spawned from a chat with Anabel Galindo, his sister and business partner. The brother and sister team was trying to find niche market to expand the company’s production line when they turned to the Alaska Fishery Marketing Board. After attending a few meetings and seeing some ideas, he asked one simple question.

“What could we do to benefit Alaska and still make a good profit?” he said.

Galindo said the obvious choice was to include salmon — a relatively inexpensive fish when compared to other Alaska fish like halibut — as a part of the company’s new product line. After testing ideas and sampling creations, they decided to run with the wild Alaska salmon wrap.

The next step was to get the product in the hands of hungry consumers. Galindo said he approached school districts across the state to see if they would be interested in the new product. The wraps have already been introduced in Kenai schools. East High School in Anchorage will get a chance to taste the wrap in March. It will also be available at retail stores, including Carrs and Three Bears.

Gene Stone, principal at Palmer Junior Middle School, said the salmon wrap is welcome on the school’s lunch menu. Not only do students seem happy with the product, but he expects parents will be pleased with the nutritional benefits of their kids eating salmon over chicken nuggets or pizza.

“I think parents are going to be happy to see something like this make an inroad into the lunch choices for our kids,” Stone said.

Eric Weber, a commercial fisherman and president of the school’s parent-teacher organization, said he doesn’t expect every student to be huge fan of the fish, but it’s good to know students have more options.

“I’m glad it’s being introduced so it can become a part of their lives and become a choice on the menu,“ Weber said. “That’s the important thing coming out of this.”

Weber said students and Taco Loco aren’t the only ones who will benefit from the new product. As an Alaska-based product with Alaska salmon, it opens a new market for fishermen in the state.