Stavis Seafoods celebrating 90 years in business in 2019

Massachusetts-based seafood supplier and distributor Stavis Seafoods is celebrating 90 years in the seafood industry throughout 2019, the company announced during Seafood Expo North America in Boston this week. 

Founded in 1929 under its original moniker, Stavis Ipswich Clam Company, Stavis Seafoods has become an internationally-known, vertically-integrated company and prominent operator on Boston’s waterfront. The business has acquired vessels and manufacturing plants from around the world via its sister companies, a jump up from its early days as a small, local clam distributor, Stavis said in a press release. 

During SENA19, which took place over the past weekend from 17 to 19 March, the company kicked off a year-long celebration of its legacy with a 90th anniversary party for employees, customers, and business partners. Company CEO Charles Marble said the celebration wasn’t just meant to reflect on Stavis’ past, but to represent a positive harbinger for the future.

‘We are proud of our rich and long history in the seafood industry,” said Marble. “However, this celebration is not just about the past, it’s about the future we are building for our company. Stavis Seafoods is now part of a larger family of seafood professionals which makes us vertically integrated and gives us access to new fisheries around the globe. We are expanding our line of quality products and brands to provide even more seafood options to our growing customer base and we will ultimately move into a new state-of-the-art facility at the end of next year. As we celebrate our past successes, we are eagerly looking forward to our future.”

Stavis, which owns the BOS’N brand, one of the oldest most established seafood brands in the United States, has seen many changes take effect in the last year alone. The Stavis family, owner and operator of the company for three generations, entered a partnership in 2018 with IMV Holdings, a subsidiary of Profand Fishing Holding, an international conglomerate of seafood businesses headquartered in Spain. The partnership served to expand Stavis’s “sourcing reach to include direct access to seafood on five continents and leadership positions in the global seabass and cephalopod markets,” it explained. Currently, Stavis sources seafood from more than 50 countries and has vessels and/or facilities in the United States, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Morocco, Senegal, The Netherlands, and India.

“Our vertical integration and global reach enable us to bring seafood directly from our own vessels and plants,” noted Marble. “This provides visibility into our supply chain and true hook-to-plate traceability that most other seafood companies just can’t offer. We have come a long way from a small, local clam company. Today, Stavis Seafoods is capable of sourcing the world and providing customers with the highest quality, freshest seafood available on the market.”

Right before SENA19, on 13 March, Stavis announced the launch of its newest lifestyle seafood brand, SeaTru. Founded on principles of providing “delicious, high-quality seafood that is completely traceable, socially responsible, and sustainably sourced,” SeaTru includes only products that can clearly demonstrate a sustainable and socially responsible supply chain from ocean to plate, the company said of the line. 

Stavis Seafoods was also consulted in the creation of the Roadmap for Improving Seafood Ethics (RISE) website, which was developed in partnership with the seafood industry and leading conservation and human rights experts to aid companies in making improvements to protect workers and to mitigate their own regulatory and reputational risks. 

“Social responsibility – keeping people safe, valuing their contribution, and preserving their dignity sounds simple, but it’s incredibly complex,” Richard Stavis, the chief sustainability officer for Stavis Seafoods, told SeafoodSource of the factors behind the creation of RISE. “Even with the best of intentions, it’s hard for companies to focus and organize their efforts to improve people’s lives. It’s even harder to track company progress to an improvement goal. As an invaluably rich and comprehensive resource that gives overview, guidance, and resources, we hope RISE allows more companies to set a path to improvement and follow it.”