Quick Take:
Pescavore products are now in more than 1,300 stores, including The Point Market in Pleasure Point, Seabright Deli in Santa Cruz, and starting this month, New Leaf. Later this year, the company plans to launch with one of the largest specialty retailers of fresh, natural and organic food in the U.S.
Since launching in 2018, Pescavore’s line of seasoned tuna jerky products has quickly gained traction, earning the company deals with stores throughout the West Coast and Hawaii. Now, the Santa Cruz-based company is preparing for its first national partnership, which will bring its products to consumers throughout the country. Also on the near horizon are new products, including a potential salmon jerky. Currently, Pescavore sells three flavors of ahi tuna jerky: island teriyaki, smokey poke and Caribbean jerk.
Pescavore’s parent company, Healthy Oceans Seafood Company, was started in 2013 by Clarice and Matt Owens, a married couple with extensive experience in sustainability. Matt Owens worked on sustainable aquaculture projects in Africa before later working for FishWise, a Santa Cruz nonprofit working to transform global seafood supply chains. Clarice Owens is an aerospace engineer with deep experience in wind turbines and other sustainable technology. It was during a trip to the Marshall Islands that the pair got hooked on a local snack made from seasoned dried marlin. That sparked their interest in bringing something similar to the U.S. market – a shelf-stable, high-protein fish snack that was also sustainable.
Pescavore products are now in more than 1,300 stores, including select Safeway/Albertsons, Target and REI locations, as well as smaller, regional and independent businesses. Locally, that includes Shoppers Corner, The Point Market in Pleasure Point, Seabright Deli in Santa Cruz and Pacific Edge Climbing Gym, to name just a few. One of their newest partners is New Leaf Community Markets, which will feature the ahi jerky in all of its stores starting this fall. A 1.5 ounce package retails for around $4- $5.
And there’s more ahead as Pescavore steadily works to take a bigger bite of the multi-billion dollar snacks market. It’s recently launched in stores in Wyoming, Montana and parts of the southeast. One recent major win was partnering with the Planet Fitness chain of gyms, with about 15-20 locations now carrying Pescavore’s jerky, according to Owens and Sarah Ryan, chief operating officer. Later this year, they’ll launch with one of the largest specialty retailers of fresh, natural and organic food in the U.S., marking their first national distribution deal. They’re not naming the retailer yet, but this will be a significant step for the company.
The company has been intentionally cautious about its expansion strategy, said Clarice Owens, who serves as the company’s chief technology officer. “We’re balancing demand versus supply and our values.”
At the company’s seafood innovation center on 17th Avenue and Live Oak, thousands of pounds of tuna are processed and packaged for an output of about 200 cases of 10 snacks each per week. Whole fish are caught, then frozen and brought to a storage facility in Moss Landing, and then transported to Live Oak. Creating a smooth, sustainable and efficient ocean-to-product process has been key to Pescavore’s mission, with significant investments made in training and development – and the company currently has a patent pending for its production process. Research and development is also a big part of efforts at the facility, which opened in 2022. The company currently employs 10 people, the bulk in Santa Cruz County, where the company intends to stay even as it grows.
As the company expands into more stores, maintaining high standards for the fish they use and the fishermen they work with remains a top priority, said Owens, and they use California tuna whenever it’s available, but always responsibly caught fish from American fishermen. Matt Owens’ full-time job in the tuna industry has helped the company build key partnerships for their sourcing.
With more and more seafood imported from other countries, being able to provide a product that’s caught by American fishermen in U.S. waters and under U.S. standards is really important, said Owens. A report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that imports account for 94% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. Seafood from other countries doesn’t always meet the same safety, labor or environmental standards, as that domestically produced. Owens said they’re also conscious of the economic challenges American fishermen are having amid fish population declines and increasing international competition.
“Just the lack of traceability alone creates so many opportunities for fraud, human rights abuses, irresponsible fishing practices, and illegal, unreported and unregulated fish,” she said. “If you just correct that one thing and process locally in the United States, you could fix 80% of the issues in seafood supply chains, which is really the perspective we took.”
