Oct 17 2008
The Idea of FishEx
The idea of FishEx came to me one summer evening in 1997, working on the back of that salmon seiner. The captain of our boat was a thrifty gentleman, who didn’t believe in spending a lot of money to feed his crew. Our entire summer food supply consisted of several cases of canned peaches, 50 pounds of bacon, and one large bag each of rice & beans. We ate a lot of salmon.
That evening, as I was filleting our dinner, the captain walked out from the wheelhouse, looked down at me, and said “Ya know, Cade- you’d pay fifty dollars for that fish at a grocery store.” He turned around and walked back into the wheelhouse. My mental response to this was “Yeah, whatever…”, and I went back to filleting the fish.
I started thinking about it though, and realized that I was facing an opportunity. I was working in Alaska, a beautiful and pristine place, with tremendous seafood resources. The Internet was much less developed back then, and I recognized the potential of using it to present fresh, premium seafood to individual consumers.
It seemed to met that by using the Internet to connect with customers, and FedEx to directly deliver the seafood, I could get fresher fish to customers than that which was going through the seafood industry’s regular distribution channels.
I began saving my fishing earnings, and I founded FishEx in 1998.
Cade,
I am so glad to see how successful you and your business have been in the last 10 plus years. I remember meeting you in Chickaloon as you were working on your business plan in your spiral notebooks. I guessed at that time that with your passion, drive and vision you would achieve your dreams. I wish you continued success.
Erin