Genuine Alaska Red King Crab

Red King Crab is harvested in three primary areas, Alaska, Russia and Norway. Russia is by far the largest supplier of Red King Crab to the US market. In addition there are three species of King Crab which include Red, Blue and Golden. Red is the premier specie of the three, and the Alaska Red King Crab is the Rolls Royce of the industry. Since Red King Crab is a cooked product, it does not fall under the COOL law dictating country of origin. This in and of itself affords the opportunity for domestic packers to blend species and Crab from various origins in a box that says “Packed in USA”, it doesn’t say “Product of USA” or “Product of Alaska”.

Why Clusters

When the whole live crab is butchered, the carapace is removed and crab is split in half. Each half has a claw and three legs attached to the shoulder/knuckle, which is a cluster. So one crab produces two clusters. The most common product form of Red King Crab sold in the US market is single leg and claw. In this pack, the industry standard is 10 percent broken or Shake. This practice has several economic and quality-diminishing consequences associated with it. First, the net usable yield of the pack is conservatively 10 percent less than the gross weight. Secondly, this affords the packer the opportunity to blend species of Crab and different origins to meet the desired price point of the customer. Blend Blue with Red, and the packer cuts its cost by 30-50 percent. If they throw in a bunch of feeder claws it cuts the costs even further. A Red King Crab has six legs and two claws. Therefore, for every six legs, there should be two claws, one feeder claw and one crusher claw. Rarely will you see a crusher claw in a leg and claw pack as packers cherry pick them out to sell as a separate item. THERE IS NO BROKEN CRAB PACKED IN OUR BOX. Additionally, the harvesting vessel, processing day and time are stamped on every box of our Crab, thus ensuring 100 percent product traceability.