Clearwater Seafoods celebrated its 40th anniversary on Wednesday, beginning the next chapter in their success story as Canada’s largest publicly traded seafood company.
In 1976, John Risley and Colin MacDonald began selling lobsters out of the back of a pickup truck and later moved to a permanent location on the Bedford Highway.
“We converted what was Navaro’s seafood restaurant, and then over the series of 18 months carried out a series of renovations and additions,” said Risley as he poked fun at the company’s early days.
“The poor local building inspector would show up in our retail shop and say ‘what’s going on here?’. Whether it was Collin or I we kind of had the message down pat – ‘we have no idea, we just work here’.”
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Not knowing much about the seafood industry, the budding entrepreneurs took a chance.
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“Forty years ago we were just two 28 year olds,” said MacDonald. “We didn’t know squat.”
From there, the company has grown to become the largest holder of shellfish licenses in Canada and one of the world’s largest vertically-integrated seafood companies.
“We’ve morphed into a company of 2,500 people who work around the globe, delivering the finest quality seafood Atlantic Canada has to offer,” he said.
Despite their lack of experience, the pair found a recipe for success. They began traveling and developing relationships in Europe and Asia in the late 70s. Their instincts paid off – in 2015 Nova Scotia exported more than $650 million worth of seafood to those markets.
“China is by far our fastest growing market globally and a lot of that is due to the fact that incomes are rising, and as incomes rise consumers are purchasing more protein,” said Ian Smith, CEO Clearwater Seafoods.
Now a half-billion dollar company, Clearwater Seafoods exports to over 40 countries with more than 85% of business taking place outside of Canada.
“The market for wild-caught, sustainably harvested seafood is massive, and we’re just scratching the surface fort he opportunity for the future of this company,” said Smith.
Despite their rise to success, the company’s founders say they still remember their roots.
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“The one message you’re going to hear from Collin and I constantly is one of thank you,” said Risley. “We cannot thank the community enough for all the support that has given to us.”
The company is known for their worldwide delivery of sustainable seafood products including lobster, scallops, clams, coldwater shrimp and groundfish among other species.
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