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EATYALL: Chefs Tell the Story of Farmers


Aug 8, 2019

In this episode, Harry Simmons, owner of Simmons’ Farm-Raised Catfish, casts us back to the first Simmons ponds back in 1978, and fishes out some wisdom as he shares how his family-owned company’s deep commitment to raising the highest quality catfish grew the company from stocking local fishing ponds, to harvesting 18 to 20 million pounds of catfish to serve some of America’s best restaurants.

Along the way, Andy and Matt Wyatt touch on why more and more chefs are moving beyond the price sheet to trusted local producers, and Harry shares the secret to how Simmons’ has kept some employees for 35 years, along with his top two pieces of advice for growing a successful business.

Simmons Catfish is a family owned catfish farm located in Yazoo City, MS in operation since 1978. Heralded as some of the best catfish in the world, Simmons’ absolute quality standards mean that fish from every pond are flavor tested once a day for three days before harvest. Then with a unique combination of state-of-the-art technology, skilled artistry and meticulous attention to detail, Simmons’ swift, sterile processing takes that quality to the next level, ensuring that each and every Simmons product—fillet or whole, ice-packed or IQF—is the very finest on the market, without exception. Find out more at simmonscatfish.com


The Eat Y’all Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, Chief Relationship Officer and founder of Eat Y’all. Eat Y’all serves as an advisor and referral resource to food farmers and artisan food makers to help them connect to chefs who are looking for better ingredients. Eat Y’all is the creator and host of Eat Y’all Chef Camps, an immersive, overnight experience for professional chefs who want to learn more about where their ingredients come from, want to discover new, better ingredients and rejuvenate in a collaborative environment with other like-minded chefs. To learn more about Eat Y’all or to get involved, visit https://eatyall.com.