October 2016 – Executive Chef of Kurland Hotel, Leon Coetzee, has been chosen as just one of six South African Chefs to be a SASSI Trailblazer 2016.
The six new trailblazers, including Leon Coetzee, are Chefs from The Vineyard Hotel, Haute Cabriere, Hartford House, The Fat Fish Restaurant and The Leopard Restaurant.
Started in 2004, the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) was established to drive change in the local seafood industry by working with suppliers and sellers of seafood, as well as informing and inspiring consumers to make sustainable seafood choices. Building on the phenomenal success of the SASSI "Green, Orange, Red" guide amongst the South African public, the SASSI Trailblazer Awards recognises and celebrates chefs who are actively championing sustainable seafood practices in their restaurants.
The following criteria was judged – The restaurants seafood sustainability policy – the effectiveness of their communication on their seafood sustainability practices to customers, employees and suppliers, their level of engagement in communicating their seafood, sustainability practices to wider audience, the 'Trailblazer Factor', i.e. those chefs and restaurants that are going the extra mile in promoting and supporting seafood sustainability.