Eating smoked salmon: why try Upstream?

To eat or not to eat smoked salmon?

In the years of food globalisation, the search for the authentic taste of salmon has generated a sense of disappointment in palates loyal to excellence. To the consumers who have given up eating smoked salmon, we quote Claudio Cerati:

"They are quite right. They are right for the same reason I fell out of love with salmon myself some time ago and stopped eating it."

But one day something changed. He started creating smoked salmon for himself, then for friends. But Claudio's unconventional spirit was not satisfied with simply finding evidence of a superior product. Therefore, he created the salmon alternative through a new supply chain system and a new brand: Upstream smoked salmon. 

Smoked salmon for Claudio Cerati

Let's rewind the tape. At the very time when smoked salmon was dominating the supermarket shelves and becoming increasingly common on our tables, and was being transformed from a niche product into a fashionable food, Claudio Cerati was totally disinterested in it. Yet he had always loved that delicious taste which, like few, was able to stir emotions. But that taste was simply no longer there, or at least it was increasingly difficult to absorb. In those years, in fact, when salmon went from being a 'luxury of Christmas meals' to a 'mass product', intensive farming increased dramatically. The dynamics behind these productions have had an unhealthy impact on several fronts and the consumer has found this in the taste, unacceptable to those who have had the privilege of experiencing the authenticity and goodness of real smoked salmon.

But sometimes the unpredictable happens - and it happens when you have the ability to question your beliefs to believe that something exceptional really does exist.

One evening at dinner, Claudio Cerati magically rediscovers that flavour when he tastes a salmon proposed by the chef without his knowledge: the same flavour he had enjoyed so much in his youth! He learnt that it was a special smoked salmon, marinated in a different way, with salt and sugar. But as he couldn't find it on sale, he started to make it.

Smoked salmon for friends

In a way, the ambition to produce a unique smoked salmon is down to his friends. Claudio Cerati shares his first samplings with his closest friends, continuing to improve his salmon as he goes along, with the clear aim of perfection. It is his gourmet friends who offer their praise and advice, enthusiastic about being able to enjoy an abundance of a product that is, moreover, absolutely healthy, and thus able to distance itself from the unhealthy salmon on the market (given the intensive farming methods, with feed enriched with antibiotics, and not only). For his friends, as well as for Claudio some time before, disappointment turned into amazement from the very first taste - they continued, all together, to pleasantly 'taste' , year after year, with ever more refined versions.

In the end, a friend gave Claudio the ultimate advice: start marketing this superlative-tasting smoked salmon. 

And there came Upstream. 

Even today, friends continue to offer their precious support. We share their advice with those who still have the pleasure of being amazed by the discovery of unusual sensations.

Smoked salmon for everyone, or almost everyone

The Upstream dream comes true with unconventional thinking and actions. The salmon is from the Atlantic and grows in its natural environment of cold, clean water. The method, created by Claudio Cerati, is comparable to no other: every process, from feeding and caring for the fish to its processing, is part of the exclusive Upstream Non intensive System.

That is why Upstream salmon is not comparable to either farmed or wild salmon.

Commitment, dedication and a constant quest for experimentation drive a project that has become much bigger, but is still based on the joy of sharing.

First with a select few, then with many. But not with everyone. From gourmet food shops to quality restaurants and wine bars, Upstream smoked salmon is also available online to reach the tables of those who choose it.

The artisanal nature of Upstream salmon and its production method do not allow it to be replicated, much less distributed. This was never the intention. 

For those in search of the unique taste of excellence, for those who recognise the authentic quality of salmon and want to appreciate every nuance to the highest possible level, there is no alternative: Upstream smoked salmon.