Seafood is a great source of protein, but not everyone gets it fresh. Fish Fixe was created by Melissa Harrington and Emily Castro to help tackle this problem. The entrepreneurs pitched on Shark Tank and scored a deal with Lori Greiner. Lately, Fish Fixe is worth an estimated $1.8 million.
The Founders
Melissa Harrington and Emily Castro are two moms from Houston, Texas. that are making waves in the seafood industry. The ladies attended Texas A&M University, where Melissa studied Nutrition Sciences and Emily pursued Sociology.
As adults, they stayed friends despite choosing different career paths. Emily worked at Republic National Distributing Company. She started as a retail wine seller and eventually got promoted to division manager.
After college, Melissa and her husband launched a seafood wholesale distribution company, Lonestar Lobster. Melissa later moved up to the position of Sales Specialist at Lonestar Seafood.
The Birth of Fish Fixe
Harrington constantly craved fish when she was expecting a child. However, sourcing and preparing seafood took too much time. She and her husband decided to buy big bundles, split them, seal them, and freeze them for future use.
That’s how Melissa got started in the seafood business. When she was with Emily on a trip, the pair talked about selling perfectly portioned seafood using the Harringtons’ distribution methods. They also planned to sell them in tightly sealed bags with extra cooking ingredients.
Fish Fixe opened its doors in 2017. By 2020, Fish Fixe made $821,000 in annual revenue and a profit of $20,000. Harrington secretly applied for Shark Tank but as they kept getting call backs from the producers, Castro was on board with the idea.
Shark Tank Appearance
Although the sales were impressive, Melissa and Emily had shipping issues and low-profit margins. The ladies had a plan to fix these problems, but needed to raise capital. In 2021, they appeared on season 13 of Shark Tank, seeking $200,000 for 15% equity.
The Sharks loved the seafood dishes they provided as treats, but were concerned about the company’s numbers. Some backed out, but others believed there was still hope for the company.
Kevin O’Leary offered $200,000 for 33.33% of the business. The presenters countered 25%, but the hungry Shark wouldn’t budge. Mark Cuban spoke up and said why they should take Kevin’s offer. Out of nowhere, Lori Greiner jumped back in and agreed to do the deal at 25%.
Sales After Shark Tank
Appearing on Shark Tank led to a huge boost in sales but the company wasn’t equipped to handle the orders. They quickly fixed the issues with deliveries, and the business is now thriving. To improve operations, they signed up with Oracle’s NetSuite software.
Among its offerings, Fish Fixe sells fish such as Norwegian salmon, wild-caught gulf shrimp, and Icelandic haddock. They sell direct to consumers on shop.fishfixe.com, where you can make a one-off order or sign-up for the subscription service. Fish Fixe boxes currently retail for between $159 to $169 and come with 16 portions.
The company is a convenient, all-in-one seafood store, which is why it mostly has positive reviews online. For example, Eater.com rated them as one of the top places to buy frozen fish. In addition, they claim the fish are “100% traceable and sustainably caught.”
In 2021, Fish Fixe was expecting to do $1.2 million in revenue for 2021. No recent figures have been released but the company was on track to make over $2 million in 2022.
