Silver Bay Seafoods, a primary processor of seafood, announced that it has acquired 100% of value-added food processing company Orca Bay Foods. The acquisition marks a significant milestone for the company and opens the door for growth in value-add processing, as well as a significant expansion of its already vertically integrated structure.
According to Cora Campbell, President and Chief Executive Officer at Silver Bay Seafoods, this move allows the company to enter the secondary processing market with a partner who has decades of experience and a proven track record of success. Nevertheless, Orca Bay Foods will continue to operate as a separate business, with its experienced staff and management, well-established brand, and strong distribution channels remaining in place.
Phil Crean, Chief Executive Officer at Orca Bay Foods, stated that his company is excited to join Silver Bay Seafoods as they continue their "mission of delivering sustainable, delicious, high-quality products". He added that this partnership will provide a unique opportunity for Orca Bay to share the Silver Bay story and allow fishermen to connect more directly with consumers.
Both companies have had a successful partnership over the past several years through a joint venture, where Silver Bay supplies large volumes of seafood and Orca Bay manages secondary processing, sales, and marketing. This acquisition takes that partnership to the next level, solidifying a long-term partnership between them.
Silver Bay Seafoods, founded in 2007 by a group of fishermen in Sitka, Alaska, aims to provide a better experience for independent fishermen through sustainable harvest opportunities, premium value, increased quality, efficient processing, and transparency in the market and downstream sales. In its first year, the company realized success which led to interest and investment from hundreds of independent fishermen in Alaska and California.
Orca Bay Foods is a Seattle-based food processing company that distributes value-added crab, fish, and seafood in North America. Founded in 1981, it opened its first processing plant in 1992. In 2019, Orca Bay merged with Odyssey Foods and expanded to the state-of-the-art 77,000-square-foot processing plant in Seattle where it is today and making it one of the largest seafood processors in the United States.