As a marine scientist, Nick Mendoza sailed several trans-Pacific research expeditions. On the eve of journey’s-end, the captain makes a ritual toast to Neptune—the protector who grants safe passage across his realm. OneForNeptune maintains tradition by paying homage to our most valuable resource, the Ocean. Nick’s passion is finding ways of directly impacting food system sustainability and food waste.
Nick had recently left a career in marine science and sustainable aquaculture research, and worked tirelessly to create a fish jerky that would address the seafood sustainability challenges that he had been seeking to solve for years, while delivering a healthy product for snack lovers. Co-founders James Coop and Garrett Delgado joined the crew full-time to help bring the vision to reality. Cooking has always been another passion of Nick’s, and the OneForNeptune jerky brand was officially launched in November 2018. This jerky is distributed under the same name of OneForNeptune, and they are based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The first review on OneForNeptune will focus on a 2.2 ounce/62 gram bag of their Honey Lemon Ginger white fish jerky. This jerky was kindly submitted for review by Founder & CEO, Nick Mendoza.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Pacific Rockfish, Liquid Aminos (Vegetable Protein from Non GMO Soybeans), Coconut Sugar, Natural Hickory Liquid Smoke (Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Vinegar, Molasses, and Caramel Color), Honey Granules (Refinery Syrup, Honey), Ginger, Garlic, Dried Lemon Juice, Sea Salt, Citric Acid. Allergen Warnings: Soy
The white fish used in this jerky is wild-caught Pacific Rockfish from the USA west coast. Pacific Rockfish is full of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, potassium, and loaded with the mineral selenium. As a result, the highest ingredient rating possible is Excellent (10/10).
The liquid marinade used here is comprised of liquid aminos, natural hickory liquid smoke, and healthy honey granules.
There are some healthy ingredients added such as honey granules, ginger, garlic, and lemon juice powder.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium added, or any other similar preservatives. Instead, minimally processed sea salt is the main preservative, and to a lesser degree the citric acid. Admirably, this jerky does qualify to have no MSG added.
Excellent (10/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Written by guest jerky reviewer Stéphane Leclerc
Well! You may be in for a surprise if you believe a fish jerky may be like nibbling on a giant bowl of ice cream with a sprinkle of rose petals or the intoxicating fragrance of the ocean as you sit back and relax peacefully a little closer to paradise on the heavenly sandy beach of a secluded island in the Caribbean. The warm sand and salty water gently caressing your toes in a mesmerizing rhythm while a soothing breeze lightly blows through your hair and takes your breath away.
This jerky is no different than most fish jerky, the aroma is rather pungent and the taste quite fishy, as expected and carefully described by several other reviewers. The smell and taste are not offensive per se but it is one of the first things that we’ve all noticed. These bite size chunks are small and sliced to a medium thickness. The texture is soft and dry and requires normal effort to chew.
Paul said: “When I open the bag I am attacked by a pungent fish odor. The fish flavor is the first to jump out at me. I, unlike Mark, happen to love most seafood, and I am clearly enjoying this fish jerky right now. I do actually detect faint honey, faint lemon, but am missing on the ginger flavor. I also detect salt, garlic, and, if I have to compare it as accurately as possible, I would say it tastes the closest to milk fish, which I am a fan of. My wife introduced me to milk fish, and it is very tasty. So I am inclined to rate this jerky pretty high.”
Mark stated: “The first taste detected is a strong level of fish, which was too overpowering for myself. This is a pleasant flavor, where I picked up a little bit of sweetness, which may or may not have been from the honey. I do not detect any ginger or lemon for the record.”
Jerkyingredients.com also received a few interesting opinions from guest reviewers.
Nolan detected the honey, lemon and hints of ginger. Nolan gave this flavor his highest rating to date.
Sid could barely detect if at all the lemon and especially no ginger. He enjoyed the overall flavor saying it was pleasing.
Ava found the taste of fish to be overpowering and in her words “potent”. The overwhelming fish flavor overrode everything, where she did not detect ginger, honey, or lemon. She also found it to be quite salty tasting.
As for yours truly, I found the Neptune Honey Lemon Ginger White Fish Jerky tasty, I enjoyed the smokiness, the light sweetness and generous saltiness. I could not really pick up on the honey flavor, lemon or ginger as they are in stealth mode and undetectable in my own opinion.
We’ve tallied all the scores and as a team, Neptune Honey Lemon Ginger White Fish Jerky was awarded an 8 taste rating.
This 2.2 ounce/62 gram bag of jerky sells online for 8.99. That equates to $4.09 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price.
Bag Review
This professional looking resalable plastic bag has everything printed directly on the bag itself, both on the front and back. There are no labels affixed to this bag. On the back it states “Made With 100% Sustainable Wild-Caught Rockfish From The US West Coast”.
Slogans printed on the bag are “A wave of change is on its way. Welcome aboard.”, and “One•For Neptune”. Some facts printed on this bag are “Gluten Free”, “Nitrate Free”, “Dairy Free”, “Non GMO”, “High Selenium”, “Omega 3”, “20g Protein Per Bag”, “USA Wild-Caught Rockfish”, and “Sweet Savory”.
All bag categories are covered here. There are great blurbs printed on the back describing OneForNeptune, and this honey lemon ginger flavor. A ‘Find My Fish’ QR code is displayed on the back, redirecting to the OneForNeptune web site. The @oneforneptune social media handle is displayed for Instagram and Facebook.
Excellent (10/10) – Bag Rating
Order their jerky online: www.oneforneptune.com
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