Seafood is a great source of protein, but not everyone has access to fresh seafood. Melissa Harrington and Emily Castro founded Fish Fixe to solve this problem. The two entrepreneurs pitched the product on Shark Tank and landed a deal with Lori Greiner. Fish Fixe is estimated to be worth $1.8 million by 2024.
Founder
Melissa Harrington and Emily Castro are two moms from Houston, Texas who are making waves in the seafood industry. They attend Texas A&M University, with Melissa studying nutritional science and Emily studying sociology.
As adults, they remained friends even though they chose different career paths. Emily worked for Republic National Distributing Co. She started out as a retail wine salesperson and eventually rose through the ranks to become a department manager.
After graduating from college, Melissa and her husband founded Lonestar Lobster, a seafood wholesale distribution company. Melissa later rose to become a sales specialist for Lonestar Seafood.
The Birth of Fish Fixe
Harrington had been craving fish during her pregnancy. However, sourcing and preparing seafood took too much time. She and her husband decided to buy large bundles of fish, separate them, seal them, and freeze them for future use.
That’s how Melissa got started in the seafood business. During one of her trips with Emily, they talked about how to sell seafood in just the right amount using the Harringtons’ distribution method. They also planned to sell the seafood in sealed bags with additional cooking ingredients.
Fish Fixe opened in 2017. By 2020, Fish Fixe had annual revenue of $821,000 and a profit of $20,000. Harrington secretly applied for Shark Tank, but because they kept getting call-backs from producers, Castro agreed to the idea.
Shark Tank Appearance
Despite incredible sales, Melissa and Emily faced shipping issues and low profit margins. They had a plan to fix these problems, but needed to raise money. In 2021, they appeared on Shark Tank Season 13, seeking $200,000 in funding for 15% equity.
The sharks loved the seafood dishes they served, but they were concerned about the company’s performance. Some withdrew, but others believed there was still hope for the company.
Kevin O’Leary offers $200,000 for 33.33% of the business. The host counters with 25%, but the greedy shark won’t budge. Mark Cuban takes the floor and explains why they should take Kevin’s offer. All of a sudden, Lori Greiner jumps back in and agrees to do the deal for 25%.
Sales after Shark Tank
After appearing on Shark Tank, sales increased significantly, but the company was unable to fulfill orders. They quickly resolved the delivery issues, and now business is thriving. To improve operations, they signed up for Oracle’s NetSuite software.
Fish Fixe sells Norwegian salmon, wild-caught Gulf shrimp and Icelandic haddock. They are sold directly to consumers at shop.fishfixe.com, where you can place a one-time order or sign up for a subscription service. Currently, Fish Fixe kits retail for between $159 and $169 for 16 servings.
The company is a convenient, full-service seafood store, so reviews online are mostly positive. For example, Eater.com ranked it as one of the best places to buy frozen fish. Plus, they claim the fish is “100% traceable and sustainably caught.”
In 2021, Fish Fixe expects to generate $1.2 million in revenue. Although it has not yet released updated figures, the company is on track to generate more than $2 million in revenue in 2022.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn