Playa Del Carmen and Tulum Mexico Real Estate | World's Finest Bluefin Tuna Introduced to Riviera Maya's Fin

World's Finest Bluefin Tuna Introduced to Riviera Maya's Finest Palates

Over the years, Cancun and the Riviera Maya have been a prime destination not only for millions of tourists every year, but also for a huge wave of new full-time residents from all over Mexico and around the world. The Caribbean beaches, the vibe, the ancient history but also the gastronomy, is more than ever recognized and highly sought after. Therefore, it was to be expected that high-end brands and producers would be interested in expanding their market to our coveted area.

This was the case for Bluefina Mexico. Bluefina started operating in Mexico in 1999 under the name Baja Aqua Farms and over the years they have become an international leader in bluefin tuna ranching. They are located in the Pacific Ocean in Ensenada, Baja California. In the early 2000’s Bluefina tuna was considered overfished, however “70% reductions in capture quotas, 100% traceability and observer coverage, stringent procures for capture, verification of tonnage, and more were implemented over the following years.” Those measures have helped reverse the bluefin population and recover the stocks of bluefin tuna worldwide.

Just like with high-end and fine meat cuts, the bluefin tuna farmed by Bluefina Mexico offers traceability for every tuna. They count every fish using underwater electronic technologies. They wait for each tuna to gain the proper weight (about 80 to 90 kilos each) before putting them on the market. Each fish is then tagged with UPC codes as well as tracking numbers. Those codes store information on where the tuna is going, its weight, size, age, etc.

This very high-end product is slowly but surely entering our market here in the Riviera Maya and Cancun. A few weeks ago, EV Marketing & Communications and Bluefina Mexico hosted a week-long workshop in Cancun, for chefs and restaurant owners to get to know the different cuts and learn about the high quality and origin of the bluefin tuna.

The closing event was hosted by the Banyan Tree Mayakoba and featured a beautiful beach set up, different kind of food stands, cocktails, sake and of course, a tuna cutting show done by no other than Yosuke Kogure, Japanese chef-owner of Kogure Tulum. His restaurant is the only one (for now) that offers the bluefin tuna by Bluefina Mexico. So, if you want to try the world’s finest high-grade bluefin that literally melts in your mouth, you will have to venture to Tulum and visit Chef Kogure.

Bluefina Mexico also sells to Spain, the USA, Canada and even Japan. They told us that they want to focus on the Mexican market as well, and offer their product to the local population, in smaller production, in order to keep the market as sustainable as possible. Here in the Riviera Maya and Cancun, we are more than happy to welcome this sophisticated product and hope to see it available in more restaurants in our area in the very near future!