Fortune Fish’s latest acquisition signals further US expansion

Fortune International is continuing its expansion throughout the U.S. Midwest with its acquisition of the Kansas City, Missouri operations of Seattle Fish.

Already one of the nation’s largest seafood distributors, Fortune is likely to make additional strategic acquisitions this year, according to Fortune President and CEO Sean O’Scannlain.

“We made a commitment when we bought Morey’s in St. Louis [Missouri, in April 2019],” O’Scannlain told SeafoodSource. “We have a strong customer base there and we are able to expand. We really like the folks at Seattle Fish and … are very exited what it will bring to our Kansas City operations.”

O’Scannlain declined to reveal the amount Fortune spent on the acquisition.

“This is a strategic and beneficial transaction for both corporations. Seattle Fish has called Colorado and the Midwest home for over 100 years. We are looking forward to continuing that legacy while making strategic investments in our core market,” Seattle Fish Executive Chairman James Iacino said in a press release.

Fortune has expanded aggressively through acquisitions since 2012, when it acquired JDY Gourmet. Then, it bought Chef Martin Old World Butcher Shop in 2014, Coastal Seafoods in 2016, and Lobster Gram in 2017.

More recently, it acquired Morey’s Seafood International of Missouri last April, followed by Classic Provisions Inc. of Minnesota in June 2019, and Jubilee Seafoods of Alabama in July of last year.

Fortune’s latest acquisition allows it to expand regionally – and beyond.

“We will now have a Kansas City presence and we can move farther south and farther west,” O’Scannlain said. “We like our Midwest/mid-center of the country geographic footprint. If we can expand further from there, it would be good."

O’Scannlain did not rule out additional acquisitions in the near term.

“Clearly, we have done a lot of acquisitors lately. It is part of our strategy,” O’Scannlain said. “We like expanding to other gourmet specialty firms – not just seafood.”

Fortune will continue to operate the business out of Seattle Fish's Kansas City facility. However, the facility will convert to Fortune’s state-of-the-art ERP, inventory management, and routing software, as well as advanced automation.  

Logo courtesy of Fortune International