Bensenville, Illinois, U.S.A.-based seafood, specialty meat, and gourmet foods distributor Fortune Fish & Gourmet is waiting patiently to see where U.S. tariffs net out before moving ahead with planned acquisitions.
“It’s hard to operate in this climate. In our world, where we do a lot of importing, it’s been very choppy with all this uncertainty. It has been sort of a rollercoaster,” Fortune CEO Sean O’Scannlain told SeafoodSource.
O’Scannlain, who founded Fortune in 2001, said he is particularly concerned about raised tariffs on imports from India – the largest supplier of farmed shrimp to the U.S. – as President Donald Trump just increased the rate on the South Asian nation to 50 percent starting 27 August.
Fortune actively supports the U.S. wild-caught shrimp industry and processes domestic products at its plant in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama, but O’Scannlain emphasized there is not enough domestic shrimp to supply even 10 percent of U.S. shrimp demand.
As for other species like salmon, tariffs on such countries as Norway and the Faroe Islands have yet to impact Fortune too heavily, but O’Scannlain said the company will shift strategies as the situation evolves.
“If it costs us more freight to bring in salmon from Norway than Canada, we will buy more from Canada,” O’Scannlain said. “Canadians have a small advantage in terms of freight. It’s all what our delivered price is going to be.”
Once the uncertainty surrounding tariffs settles, O’Scannlain said acquisitions will start to pick up.
“Getting that out of the way will be rocket fuel for acquisitions,” O’Scannlain said. “There is a lot of pent up demand for acquisitions – both from buyers and sellers who are waiting due to the uncertainty and the interest rates.”
To that end, Fortune executives have been holding a number of “active conversations” under non-disclosure agreements with companies they are considering acquiring.
“I think you will see us ramp up acquisitions in the next quarter or two,” O’Scannlain said, adding that the company aims to expand its geographic footprint to the West Coast.
Economic certainty would also result in stronger consumer demand for dining at fine-dining restaurants, which O’Scannlain said are Fortune’s “bread and butter.” Foodservice accounts comprise around two-thirds of Fortune’s business, while retail makes up the remaining one-third.
Despite the turbulence 2025 has seen, Fortune’s sales have grown this year thanks to a “fantastic sales team” and the opening of a new fish-cutting facility in Union, New Jersey, U.S.A.
“We can do custom cuts and deliver them to retailers and restaurants in a matter of hours,” O’Scannlain said. “It takes our D'Artagnan acquisition [now Fortune East] to the next level as planned.”
Additionally, the company has been increasing its business with U.S. professional sports teams, including those in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the National Football League (NFL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and more.
“We already work with a number of teams. These teams invest millions of dollars in one player and are very much interested in making sure these world-class athletes have the highest-quality proteins to allow them to achieve peak performance,” O’Scannlain said.
One such example of Fortune partnering with sports teams involved former NFL quarterback Derek Carr. When Carr played for the New Orleans Saints, he was not satisfied with the quality of proteins offered at team meals, according to O’Scannlain. Team executives then reached out to Fortune Fish, which presented bison, venison, and other sustainably raised land-based proteins, along with sustainable seafood, to the team.
The distributor landed that contract, which “sparked us to reach out to a number of other teams,” O’Scannlain said.
More recently, Fortune has been making inroads with the NBA. Fortune executives presented gourmet meats and seafood to chefs at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A., in July.
Fortune executives spoke with NBA chefs and showcased their grass-fed and wagyu beef, venison, bison, and Fortune’s free-range D'Artagnan Green Circle Chicken. They also showcased San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based Bluefiná’s bluefin tuna and Fortune’s Hokubu brand of Hokkaido, Japan-sourced scallops.
As a result, Fortune has had follow-up discussions with teams that it did not previously work with and expects to gain new business, O’Scannlain said.
